Diplomacy does not require an endorsement of another country’s position. It does require openness to sitting down and listening, finding out the possible areas of agreement, or at least deciding on an agreement to disagree
Cuba n President Fidel Castro and Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy meet at the Revolution Palace in Havana, Cuba in 1997.Lloyd Axworthy is chair of the World Refugee and Migration Council and a former Canadian foreign affairs minister. He is the author ofOver dinner in late January of 1997 at the Havana Palace of the Revolution, Fidel Castro gave me his recipe for vegetable soup.
In a more private moment after the meal, I was able to raise the names of certain Cuban dissidents, asking for their release from prison. Eventually, there was an agreement for their resettlement in Canada.
There was a major brush up with the Americans over US legislation called the Helms-Burton Act that applied extraterritorial punishments to companies that took over assets of Cuban exiles. This involved several Canadian companies. We pushed back, as did the Europeans, gaining a favourable response from other countries in the Americas that were fed up with American bullish ways. We demonstrated to our business community that we had their interests as a priority.
In an ongoing pursuit of this constructive engagement policy, I revisited Havana in early January of 1999, resulting in another memorable engagement with Fidel. On the morning of Jan. 9, I was up island visiting a camp the Cubans had established for the treatment of children affected by radiation from the Chernobyl disaster. Officials from our embassy called to say they had received word that Fidel had declared he was coming to lunch. A completely surprise visit.
Visit Agreement Canada Fidel Country Dinner Conversation Chernobyl Clinton Heathrow
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