By The Canadian Press

Cuban ambassador to testify as Ottawa promises aid is on the way

Feb 24, 2026 | 1:00 AM

OTTAWA — As Ottawa continues to say it will send aid to Cuba at some point, the island nation’s ambassador to Canada is set to testify before the House foreign affairs committee Tuesday afternoon.

Ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz is scheduled to address the committee after it hears from officials at Global Affairs Canada responsible for regional issues and humanitarian response.

A U.S. oil blockade has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Cuba and officials close to U.S. President Donald Trump have suggested economic pressure could topple the communist regime in the Caribbean nation.

Mexico has sent humanitarian shipments of food and medicine to Cuba, leading Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs to call on Ottawa to follow suit.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Monday that Ottawa was “preparing a plan to assist” Cuba and she could not provide any further details.

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“I will have an announcement in the coming days,” she said Tuesday, again declining to hint at the type of aid.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Feb. 13 that Canada was working on providing some sort of humanitarian relief to the island.

Cuba’s dire energy crisis has worsened in recent weeks. Oil shipments from Venezuela, its main oil supplier, were halted when the U.S. attacked the South American country in early January, arrested its leader and claimed control over its oil.

Mexico, another major supplier, suspended oil shipments after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba — deepening an already severe economic and energy crisis in the Caribbean nation.

The economic crisis gripping Cuba since 2020 has been compounded by intensified U.S. sanctions, leading to critical shortages and severe blackouts that peaked in early 2026.

Because Cuba produces only 40 per cent of its required fuel, it remains highly vulnerable to external blockades. While allies like Russia and China have condemned the U.S. measures, their support has remained largely symbolic so far.

Air Canada and other airlines have cancelled flights to Cuba because of a shortage of aviation fuel on the island.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press