When two Russian warships and a submarine approached Cuba’s Havana port last month, it was a reality check for Canada, which found itself in a particularly embarrassing diplomatic situation. The Russian vessels did not stop there, however, as they soon made their way to Venezuela as well—a demonstration from Vladimir Putin shoring up support from allies in the region while flexing his muscles in the United States’ (and for that matter Canada’s) proverbial backyard.
Despite the criticism Canada faced for sharing a dock with the Russians, Defence Minister Bill Blair defended the decision saying that the action was done to “demonstrate [Canada’s] naval capability.”
What was shocking and concerning was that Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly claimed that she had not been aware that the Russians would be in the same place at the same time as a Canadian ship. This incident, and the muddled messaging that followed, is just another clear example of the lack of consistent vision and communication on Canada’s foreign policy agenda, both internally and externally.
But most interestingly, this situation highlights another fact. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a region that tends to be on the backburner of Canadian foreign policy, despite the fact that Canada is part of the greater community of the Americas.
Canada’s relations with the LAC region have always been relatively minimal, except for a few moments in the 1960s onwards, most notably in increasing Canada-Cuba relations in 1976. But that greatly changed post-Cold War as the global world order was being shaken up and it seemed that the world was full of new diplomatic possibilities. The signing of NAFTA with the USA and Mexico in 1994 was a signal of this era of change.
The 1990s and the turn of the 21st century heralded a new rise in Canada-LAC relations, as Canada subsequently signed free trade agreements with Chile and Costa Rica, and trade and investment cooperation agreements were signed with the Andean Community and Mercosur.
9/11 changed that. Since then, Canada, following the lead of the U.S., started to shift focus toward the Middle East, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific due to the rising geopolitical challenges—and opportunities—there. While trade with the LAC region continued, the majority of Canada’s economic, diplomatic, and security focus has gone eastwards.
