TORONTO -- (AP) -- Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, an outspoken critic of United States sanctions against Cuba, plans to visit Havana next week -- the highest-level Canadian trip there since 1976.
Canada is the leading foreign investor in Cuba, and Axworthy has spearheaded opposition to the Helms-Burton law, the U.S. legislation that discourages foreign companies from operating on the island.
Canada's stance has annoyed U.S. government officials and infuriated anti-Castro Cuban exiles. One Cuban-American group, the Alliance of Young Cubans, has bought billboard space in Toronto urging Canadians not to vacation in Cuba.
``Your Paradise. Their Hell,'' says one of the billboards, depicting a family of vacationers frolicking in the sea while a Cuban family watches them through prison bars.
Cuban tourist officials, who use Canadian billboards to promote the island, say 156,000 Canadians visited Cuba last year. U.S. tourism to Cuba is prohibited.
Axworthy, who starts his two-day trip Tuesday, will be the most senior Canadian official to visit Cuba since Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau made a trip in 1976. Trudeau established a personal friendship with Cuban President Fidel Castro.
Axworthy is expected to hold talks with Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina and Vice President Carlos Lage, and may meet with Castro.
Officials in Axworthy's department said human-rights issues will be high on his agenda. This would be in line with Canada's contention that its policy of engagement with Cuba can be more successful than U.S. sanctions in bringing about economic and political reforms.
Axworthy also has scheduled meetings with several aid groups.
Canada has refused to abide by Helms-Burton, instead encouraging firms already in Cuba to remain there and making clear it supports new investment.
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald