“Let the Matter Drop:” the Canadian Department of External Affairs’ Response to the Death of Raoul Léger

! ! ! “LET THE MATTER DROP:” THE CANADIAN DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS’ RESPONSE TO THE DEATH OF RAOUL LÉGER GRANT C. DOHERTY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FUFILLMENT OF THE REQUIRMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY NIPISSING UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES NORTH BAY, ONTARIO © Grant Doherty July 2012 ! Table of Contents Author’s Declaration Page ..................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................... iv Abstract ............................................................................... v Introduction .......................................................................... 1 I: The Case of Raoul Léger .................................................... 11 II: The Cold War and Canadian Foreign Policy ........................ 27 III: Canada Economic Interests .............................................. 35 Conclusion ........................................................................... 47 Bibliography ......................................................................... 51 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ""! ! I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this Major Research Paper. I authorize Nipissing University to lend this thesis or Major Research Paper to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Nipissing University to reproduce this thesis or dissertation by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. """! ! Acknowledgments This MRP is indebted to Robin Gendron for first introducing me to Léger’s case, and secondly for his unyielding commitment to see me through with this project. His advice and guidance throughout the year made the completion of this paper possible. I also owe great thanks to Hilary Earl whose constructive criticism over the course of the year fine tuned my writing process and forced me to revisit the rules of writing. I would also like to thank Mark Crane for guiding my writing style from that of an undergraduate student to a graduate student in Methods I. I owe much to my parents Paul and Gail Doherty for their full support and encouragement to pursue my interest in history. There are many family, friends, and Department of History faculty members who contributed to this MRP who I am indebted to. However, any errors, misrepresentations, or omissions are the sole ownership of the author. "#! ! Abstract In July 1981, Canadian lay missionary worker Raoul Léger was killed by the Guatemalan Army. Léger’s death received publicity in Canada, and the Canadian government was pressured to hold the Guatemalan government accountable. However, the Department of External Affairs learned the Léger was acting as a guerrilla collaborator in the Guatemalan civil war. Léger’s case is interesting, as it allows for various interpretations of Canadian foreign policy to be tested. What influenced Canadian foreign policy? economic interests or human rights? Hard interests or values? This MRP examines the degree to which human rights, the Cold War, and Canadian economic interests influenced the way in which the DEA reacted to Léger’s death arguing that despite the image of Canada as a proponent of liberal internationalism, the driving influence of Canadian foreign policy, were economic concerns. #! ! 1 Introduction In July 1981, Guatemalan security forces killed over a dozen individuals, including Raoul Léger a lay missionary from Bouctouche, New Brunswick in a counter insurgency raid. With Guatemala in the midst of a civil war, the Guatemalan government claimed that the deceased had taken their own lives as they were surrounded by the Guatemalan army but the intense firefight that was broadcast on Guatemalan television undermines the claims of suicide. There is much controversy surrounding Léger’s death. In the wake of his death, Canadian media immediately adopted the headline, “saint or subversive?” to describe Léger, questioning the accuracy of the Guatemalan government’s official position on Léger as a guerilla collaborator.1 As the case of Léger death became highly publicised in Canada, the Canadian government was pressured to take action and investigate the circumstances surrounding Léger’s death to protect the rights of a Canadian citizen killed abroad. Surprisingly, the case of Raoul Léger has been only examined in a 2002 National Film Board of Canada documentary directed by Renée Blanchar entitled Raoul Léger, the Elusive Truth.2 It has not attracted any academic interest or study. The case of Léger is interesting. It offers a direct window into the nature of Canadian foreign policy at the apex of the Cold War and Canada’s relations with Guatemala because it highlights links between the Cold War, Canadian political and economic interests, and human rights in the making of Canada’s foreign policy. Examining the Canadian Department of External Affairs’ (DEA) response to Léger’s !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Man Alive, CBC, Nov. 22, 1981 2 National Film Board. Raoul Léger, The Elusive Truth. 2002. Directed by Renée Blanchar. ! ! 2 death enables us to test different understandings or the relative influence of various factors on Canadian foreign policy in the early 1980s. Was Canadian foreign policy influenced by values or interests; i.e. trade and economic interests or human rights? In 1948, Canada signed the United Nations, “Universal Declaration of Rights and Freedoms” and, by 1957, was viewed by some as a ‘defender of peace’, with a foreign policy that was reflective of the values of Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.3 As well, Canadian foreign policy can be alternatively viewed as nothing more than an extension of Canadian economic interests, devoid of Pearson’s values of freedom, tolerance, and equality.4 What is it that shaped Canadian foreign policy? By examining the case of Raoul Léger with an eye to such questions, this MRP will offer an original assessment of Canadian foreign policy toward Guatemala in the early 1980s. Scholars have generally categorized Canadian foreign policy along three lines. The first draws on the idea of liberal internationalism, that Canada is a middle- ranking power among nations working to promote the maintenance of a peaceful world order. 5 The idea of liberal internationalism is prevalent in the popular !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 For instance historian Michael K. Carroll discusses the Suez Crisis as the origin of Canada’s myth as a peacekeeper with its roots in Pearson’s foreign policy guided by Liberal internationalism, essentially a values based system. See Michael K. Carroll, Pearson’s Peacekeepers: Canada and the United Nations Emergency Force, 1956-67 (Toronto: UBC Press, 2009). 4 Michael Hart takes issue with the paradigm of academia that believes “trade and economic policy form at best a minor part of Canada’s external relations and occupied very little of the time and energy of ministers and officials in the Department of External Affairs.” Instead, Hart argues that Canadian foreign policy “was more a matter of foreign economic policy than anything else!.” In Hart’s evaluation of Canadian foreign policy, the major influence is economic interests rather than values, such as human rights. See Michael Hart, “External Affairs and Canadian External Trade Policy, 1945-1982.”In the National Interest: Canadian Foreign Policy and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1909-2009 ed. Greg Donaghy and Michael K. Carroll. (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2011). 5 Liberal internationalism is arguably the most prevalent paradigm used to examine Canadian foreign policy. Its roots can be found as early as Lester B. Pearson’s days as an official within the Canadian Department External Affairs during the 1950s. Liberal internationalism promotes the liberal values of ! ! 3 imagination of Canada’s place in the world and remains one of the most common paradigms used by academics to examine Canadian foreign policy, often referring back to the ‘golden age’ of diplomacy in the 1950s and 1960s under Canadian diplomat and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. According to the ideas of liberal internationalism, Canada, as a middle-ranking power, tried to spread its liberal ideals of equality, freedom, and tolerance through direct intervention, which ranged from foreign aid to direct military intervention, such as the example of Canada’s peacekeeping operations through the United Nations. Essentially, liberal internationalism focuses on values and international institutions rather than other Canadian interests. Under this paradigm, it is easy to see how Canadian media linked Léger’s death as a Canadian missionary with the paradigm of liberal internationalism. The second paradigm, a product of the post war era as the cultural and economic boundaries between Canada and the United States began to fade, examines Canada as a satellite state of the United States and Canadian foreign policy as dominated by or subordinated to American political and economic interests, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. Through this categorization of Canadian foreign policy, American hegemonic power trumped independent Canadian foreign policy. The third and more recent theme has examined Canada as a principle power, acting as a leader among nations, pursuing its own national interests actively with few !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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