MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Member of Canadian Parliament Stephanie Kusie joined representatives of the Cuban, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan exile communities in Miami today to demonstrate her party’s support of democracy and human rights in the region. Kusie is the first Canadian elected official to travel to Miami to meet with leaders of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a parliamentary coalition of 54 Cuban civil society organizations inside and outside of Cuba. The historic meeting was broadcast live throughout Cuba.
“Canadians believe in democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” said Kusie. “We need to work on educating Canadians on the difference between the Cuban culture — which so many of us appreciate and enjoy— and the regime. It’s time we stop romanticizing this dictatorship and go beyond the lies to see what is really happening in Cuba. I have good news for Cubans. You can expect more support from your Canadian friends.”
The Calgary and Ottawa-based Member of Parliament’s visit included a meeting with U.S. Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar of Florida’s 27th district. A daughter of Cuban exiles, Salazar is a fierce critic of the Cuban Regime and its sympathizers in the U.S. government and around the world. The two leaders discussed the misdirection of Canadian public funds to branches of the Communist Regime in Cuba and possibilities for collaboration in the years to come.
In the afternoon, a delegation led by Dr. Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance accompanied Kusie to the Cuban Memorial Monument at Florida International University, which honors victims of the Cuban Communist dictatorship.
"I am a firm believer that as Canadians learn more about the regime — not the romanticized dictatorship, but the reality and extent of its abuse of power — they will see that the Cuban people truly want freedom and true democracy," said Gutiérrez-Boronat, who co-hosted the event.
Kusie and her office organized the mission trip to Miami as part of an effort to help Canadians understand the gravity of the situation in Cuba and learn about what they and many in Canada see as the rise of authoritarianism among socialist-leaning governments around the world, including Canada.
Kusie was critical of the current Canadian Prime Minister’s foreign policy and described her role as an ‘emissary of hope’ that Canadians will once again defend the Cuban people.
A former diplomat for the Canadian federal government, Kusie served in Argentina in 2006, was chargé d’affaires and Consul for Canada in El Salvador from 2006-2008, and Consul for Canada at the Consulate in Dallas, Texas from 2010-2013. She also served as policy advisor to the Honourable Minister Peter Kent during his time as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for the Americas in the Harper Administration in 2009.
Kusie’s visit comes at a time when anti-democratic forces are working to expand their reach across the region. At the same time, more and more ordinary people from all walks of life throughout countries like Cuba are standing up to demand change.
The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance and similar groups have routinely criticized the Canada’s handling of these regimes as duplicitous and cowardly. Despite the Canadian people’s great interest in universal rights and liberties, the Canadian government has failed to stand up in the face of injustice in countries like Nicaragua and Venezuela, and certainly Cuba.
The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a parliamentary coalition of 54 Cuban civil society organizations inside and outside of Cuba, has increased engagement with parliaments in Canada and Europe in order to raise the issue of public subsidies and funding for the communist regime in Cuba. Kusie’s visit marks a step forward in the critically important dialogue between Cuban democratic forces and the Canadian Parliament.
