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Saturday, July 21, 2007

Harper's Cuba tack meets resistance

Harper's Cuba tack meets resistance
CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, July 20, 2007

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Barbadian Prime
Minister Owen Arthur differed yesterday on how to deal with Cuba.

"We have relationships with Cuba, a lot of Canadian investment there," said
Harper at a joint news conference here.

"Canadian governments have at the same time . . . expressed concerns about
certain aspects of governance and human rights in Cuba. The values that we
are promoting through the region -- values of open and free societies,
democratic societies, values of modern prosperity and open markets and of
course common security challenges -- we're going to promote these values."

Arthur, who chairs the 15-member Caribbean Community economic union, said
Cuba should be respected for what it is.

"We have a relationship with Cuba that's over 30 years old," said Arthur.

The world's approach to Cuba should be guided by principles of "respect for
people's sovereignty, and non-interference, and the right of people to
pursue alternative paths to their development," he added.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=5d245f42-9774-46ed-ab90-7a0c8a74f90b

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