Scammer
Banned
Relatives of Cuban political prisoners, called the Women in White, protest outside Cuba's National Assembly in Havana in 2007. According to the latest WikiLeaks documents, U.S. diplomats criticized the Canadian government for not openly decrying human-rights abuses in Cuba.
U.S. diplomats criticized a Harper cabinet minister who visited Cuba last year for not publicly chastising the government for its human rights record, according to documents published by WikiLeaks.
"A series of recent visits has shown the different approaches that foreign governments have taken to highlight, or not, Cuba's sorry human rights record," the cable, written by a U.S. diplomat and dated Nov. 24, 2009, states.
"The Australian Foreign Minister, Switzerland's Human Rights Special Envoy and the Canadian Cabinet-level Minister of the Americas not only failed to meet with non-government Cubans, they didn't even bother to publicly call for more freedoms after visiting Cuba in November."
The cable focuses on a trip to Cuba by Peter Kent, the minister of state for foreign affairs (Americas), in November 2009 and bemoaned that Canada took a "keep-it-private," "say nothing publicly" approach to Cuba on the issue of human rights.
According to the cable, the U.S. diplomats were surprised the "Canadians failed to meet with the independent civil society or make public pronouncements" about human rights after Kent's visit, since he and Prime Minister Stephen Harper had been critical of Cuba's record.
"Canadian officials in Havana told us that Kent raised the issue of Cuba's political prisoners but that the [government of Cuba] had immediately turned the discussion into one of definitions," according to the cable.
"It's an interesting debate, our Canadian counterparts claimed. 'If someone takes money from the U.S., does that make him a political prisoner?'"
According to the cable, Kent "left town saying little, a style that 'works better for the [government of Cuba]' our northerly neighbors assured us."
Melissa Lantsman, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, said in an email that he wouldn't comment on the leaked documents.
"Irresponsible leaks like these are deplorable and do not serve anybody's national interests," she wrote. "The perpetrators of these leaks may threaten our national security."