By JUAN O. TAMAYO
Herald Staff Writer
Snubbing the United States, Canada agreed Wednesday to work with Cuba on 14 areas of cooperation ranging from economic reforms to drug interdiction and human rights.
One of the ``cooperation areas'' on human rights offers seminars and academic exchanges plus exchanges of materials on the work of United Nations human rights agencies.
But the other 13 points put Canada squarely at odds with U.S. and European Community policies that call for active pressures on Cuba to move toward democracy.
One point calls for negotiating a Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement, presumably to safeguard Canadian investments in Cuba, and a second offers unspecified Canadian support for Cuban economic reforms.
Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy issued the joint statement in Havana with his Cuban counterpart, Roberto Robaina. Axworthy's visit was the first to Cuba by a Canadian foreign minister since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.
Other points call for bilateral cooperation in the fields of justice, including exchanging judges for teaching programs, as well as in banking, tax, health and sports. One calls for exchanges between the two legislatures.
Another offers support for Canadian and Cuban nongovernment organizations, viewed by U.S. and European officials as possible agents of change, but only ``in accordance with the laws . . . of each country.''
The two nations also promised to cooperate on drug interdiction and international terrorism, to establish an audio-visual co-production agreement and explore possibilities for joint research and development projects in third countries.
Canada and Cuba ``reiterate the commitment to peace of their respective peoples and their common endeavors to promote social justice in an atmosphere of stability and unity, based on the consensus of their respective citizens,'' the statement said.
The pact appeared to consolidate Canada's position as a key Cuba partner, which it sorely needs since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the defeat of former Spanish Prime Minister and socialist Felipe Gonzalez by Jose Maria Aznar.
Canada was Cuba's single largest trade partner in 1996, and Canadians are estimated to make up the largest group of foreign investors in Cuba. They are second in tourism, behind Italians.
The joint statement came as Axworthy headed home after a two-day visit to Havana during which he met twice with President Fidel Castro and drew an unusually public blast from Clinton administration officials.
``I don't want to tell you that we have great breakthroughs,'' Axworthy told reporters. ``It's a work in progress.''
Castro was vague when asked about their human rights discussions.
``We spoke of everything,'' Castro said. ``Among friends you can speak of everything.''
Pressed for details, he quipped, ``Napoleon didn't discuss details.''
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said Tuesday that while Axworthy's plans to discuss the issue of human rights with Cuba was welcome, Canada was in effect ``rewarding a dictator.''
Washington ``continues to be skeptical about the possibilities that the Cuban government will take significant steps toward democracy,'' Burns told reporters.
Burns noted that even as Axworthy was landing in Havana, Cuban police were detaining three dissidents, economist Marta Beatriz Roque and journalists Tania Quintero and Juan Antonio Sanchez. Roque and Quintero were freed Wednesday, but there was no word on Sanchez's fate.
Axworthy appeared unmoved by the U.S. criticism.
``The points of view of the spokesman for the State Department are of little importance to me, because each country has the right to carry out an independent foreign policy,'' he told reporters in Havana.
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald