A vintage car passes by as Canadian warship HMCS Margaret Brooke enters Havana's bay, in Cuba, on June 14. The Canadian government has come under criticism for making a friendly three-day naval stop in Cuba.Photos posted on social media by Canada’s embassy in Cuba show a Royal Canadian Navy band member leading conga lines during a performance in downtown Havana, interactions that cast doubt on Defence Minister Bill Blair’s description of a warship port visit as a deterrent to Moscow.
The Globe and Mail requested an itinerary of the port visit from the Department of National Defence. Spokesman Kened Sadiku said HMCS Margaret Brooke co-hosted an engagement with the Canadian ambassador “for officials from many countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, and the host nation of Cuba.”said the musical performance was arranged by the Department of Global Affairs.
Michael Lima, a Cuban-Canadian and democracy activist who is critical of the authoritarian government in Havana, said it’s hard to see how the Royal Canadian Navy’s musical entertainment fits with a deterrence operation.