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A report released this Wednesday by The Bureau, in collaboration with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Democratic Spaces, and Human Rights Action Group, urged the Canadian government to impose targeted sanctions against officials of the Cuban regime for their role in internal repression and their alliance with authoritarian powers.
The report, titled Canada’s Friendly Dictatorship Problem, which is part of the study Cuba and the Authoritarian Nexus: Internal Repression, External Aggression, and Illiberal Partnerships, argues that Ottawa maintains an incoherent policy towards Havana by sanctioning officials from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Russia, and China, yet failing to take similar actions against Cuban leaders despite decades of allegations of human rights violations.
The authors, Michael Lima, Isabelle Terranova, and Sarah Teich, point out that Cuba is not merely a country affected by U.S. sanctions, but an active player within an authoritarian network that includes Russia, China, and Venezuela, collaborating on intelligence, military training, surveillance technology, and propaganda.
The document recalls that on January 3, 2026, special forces from the United States captured the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro during a military operation in which 32 members of the elite Cuban unit known as Avispas Negras were killed, who had been deployed to protect him.
According to the report, this fact highlighted the level of direct involvement of Havana in the security structure of chavismo.
The study also reveals that thousands of Cubans have been recruited to fight in Russia's war against Ukraine under misleading promises of jobs and salaries, and it warns about the possible existence of Russian and Chinese intelligence facilities on the island with surveillance capabilities in the Western Hemisphere.
Internally, researchers emphasize that Cuba maintains a single-party system with no legal opposition, with at least 1,192 political prisoners as of December 2025, according to figures cited in the report, along with reports of torture, prolonged isolation, and deaths in custody.
The report questions why Canada has imposed sanctions on 124 Venezuelans and dozens of officials from other authoritarian regimes, while no Cuban leader has been punished under the Special Economic Measures Act.
Furthermore, it criticizes that the state channel Cubavisión Internacional can be broadcast in Canadian territory, while Russian broadcasters like RT were banned following the invasion of Ukraine, and it points out the lack of contact from the Canadian embassy in Havana with Cuban activists and opposition figures.
Among the recommendations, the report suggests implementing selective sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations, strengthening support for independent civil society, and aligning policy towards Cuba with the principles that Ottawa claims to uphold regarding democracy and the rule of law.
The authors conclude that maintaining a relationship without consequences in the face of repression and the international projection of the Cuban regime undermines Canada's credibility in the hemisphere and leaves the citizens of the island, who are demanding political freedoms, without effective support.
In contrast, the Government of Canada announced the dispatch of 5.8 million US dollars in humanitarian aid aimed at strengthening food security and nutrition for vulnerable sectors in Cuba, amidst the energy crisis and the deterioration of living conditions on the island.
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