Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has added his voice to the increasing list of world leaders who want the US trade embargo against Cuba to be lifted. Harper spoke about the issue during a news conference at the International Financial Centre in Port-of-Spain, yesterday.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Caricom chairman and Belize PM Dean Barrow made similar calls at the opening of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain on Friday. “If one wants to break down state socialist economic nationalist model with walls, I don’t think a trade embargo is the way to do that. So we would definitely urge a different course of action,” Harper stressed. He admitted, however, that Canada sees Cuba as “a communist dictatorship and we want to see progress on freedom (and) democracy in (human) rights as well as economic matters.”

In response to another question, Harper said there was a “small bloc” of OAS countries in Latin America that were opposed to the free trade initiatives, but the vast majority of countries are supportive. “There are some countries who want to keep fighting the cold war,” he said. He said the deliberations at the summit were proceeding in a cordial manner, but there remains some differences on certain issues. He did not elaborate. During his brief lunchtime meeting with US President Barack Obama, Harper said they talked about security, an economic stimulus, unemployment and the automobile and financial sectors.