FOLLOWING THE AMERICAN LEAD: CANADA'S DIPLOMACY TOWARDS CUBA IN THE PRE-REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, 1939-1959 A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada (c) Copyright by Kailey Miller 2011 History M.A. Graduate Program October 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-81131-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-81131-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada ABSTRACT Following the American Lead: Canada's Diplomacy Towards Cuba in the Pre- Revolutionary Period, 1939-1959 Kailey Miller This thesis provides an original view of Canadian diplomacy towards Cuba in the post-Second World War, pre-revolutionary period by looking at previously unavailable diplomatic correspondence. The evolution of Canada's diplomacy in Cuba within the context of shifting international realities, Canada-U.S. relations, and the changing dynamics of personnel and policies at the Department of External Affairs (DEA) in Ottawa, is the central focus of this thesis. It makes the argument that Canadian diplomacy in the period largely followed the dictates of American policy. This thesis relies heavily on despatches sent between Canadian diplomats in Havana and Ottawa. These documents were retrieved directly from the Library and Archives Canada (LAC), and haven been drawn from fifteen volumes that collectively contain over 4000 RG 25 (External Affairs) documents on Canadian- Cuban bilateral relations from 1939 until 1959. Keywords: Canadian-Cuban relations, Pre-revolutionary Cuba, Canadian diplomacy, Cold War, Canadian-U.S. relation ii Acknowledgements None of this would have been possible without the enormous support and encouragement I received from my supervisor, Robert Wright. My interest in Cuba started in his undergraduate course at Trent in Oshawa, and only increased after I got the opportunity to present a paper from his graduate course at the University of Havana. For always being a willing listener and dependable source of support, I truly thank you. I am also very appreciative of the other two members of my committee, David Sheinin and Dimitry Anastakis, whose helpful comments and suggestions were invaluable in helping me deliver the final product. For your commitment and effort, I thank you both. On a personal level, my family has been instrumental in my ability to succeed in my academic life thus far. To my mother and grandmother for making many sacrifices so that I could focus on my studies, particularly during my undergraduate career, I am forever grateful to you both. And last but certainly not least, to my partner, Malin: there are no words to adequately express how much your love and support helped me get through the hardest parts of this project. Knowing I have you in my life makes all things feel possible. Your love and support have and will always push me to be my best self. iii Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv Introduction 1 Methodological Approach 5 Historiography . 6 Methodological Framework 33 Background: Canadian Cuban relations before 1945 37 Chapter 1 48 Fighting the "Red Menace" in Cuba, 1945-47 48 The Iron Curtain Descends 54 Chapter 2 73 Cuba in the 1950s: an island paradise or a country in need? 77 An Ambivalent Perspective: Cuba through the eyes of Harry A. Scott 81 Chapter 3 109 Changing of the Guard 110 Hector Allard: A Loyal Supporter of the American-led Status Quo 125 Conclusion 137 Bibliography 144 iv 1 Introduction Writing to the Canadian Ambassador to Brazil in 1947, Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, said the following: "One reason for our present high position [in Latin America] is our separation from United States attitudes and policies, sometimes unwise and sometimes unpopular, toward Latin American countries."1 This statement is not consistent with Canada's diplomatic record in Cuba during the pre-revolutionary years. By the time Canada established diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1945, a second world war had left Europe in economic and political ruins, the United States had surpassed the British Empire as the leader of the Western world, and the beginnings of a decades-long ideological struggle between Soviet communism and liberal democracy had become the cause celebre of Western politics. As a result, Canada's Cold War alliance with the United States ultimately superseded the desire of Canadian diplomats to pursue an independent policy in Cuba from 1945 to 1959. The purpose of this thesis is to provide an original view of Canadian diplomacy towards Cuba in the post-Second World War, pre-revolutionary period by looking at previously unavailable diplomatic correspondence. The evolution of Canada's diplomacy in Cuba within the context of shifting international realities, Canada-U.S. relations, and the changing dynamics of personnel and policies at the Department of External Affairs (DEA) in Ottawa, is the central focus of this thesis. It makes the argument that Canadian diplomacy in the period largely followed the !Lester B. Pearson to Canadian Ambassador to Brazil, "Pan-American Union," 9 January 1947, http://www.mternational.gc.ca/department/history-histoire/dcer/details- en.asp?intRefid=13765. 2 dictates of American policy. This was due to three primary factors: the preponderant necessities of the Cold War, American influence- both on the ground in Cuba and in Washington- and a shared belief among Canadian diplomats and their American counterparts in an anti-communist approach to Cuba. Like the United States, Canada saw Cuba as a relatively insignificant area in the Cold War from 1945 until 1959. Though Cubans were long-standing trading partners, Canadian diplomats saw them, in general, as a backward and politically immature people. Canada also recognized that Cuba's corrupt and unstable political system could provide a fertile ground for a communist uprising. As a result, senior officials at the Department of External Affairs (DEA) believed that American leadership was needed to bring stability to the island, which in turn protected Canadian and Western interests. Although Ottawa understood the importance of American leadership in Cuba, it also wanted to be at arms length from any formal organization involving Pan- American security. As a result, Canada did not seek inclusion to the Pan-American Union (later renamed the Organization of American States [OAS]). As far as Pearson was concerned, it was Canada's "aloofness from petty Pan-American affairs" that allowed it to maintain a position of "superiority" over the United States in that particular area of foreign policy.2 Nonetheless, while Canada prided itself on being "aloof from Latin American entanglements, it made no attempts to demonstrate its separation from the United States' approach to Cuba in either its policies or in the initiatives it supported 2 Ibid. 3 through the United Nations. Far from taking the "high road" in its diplomacy with Cuba, Canada was more often than not in lock step with the United States. While senior officials at the DEA figure prominently in this study, the focus will also be on Canadian diplomats in Cuba. Prior to 1959, the Canadian embassy in Havana was one of relatively little significance, both in the eyes of senior officials at the DEA and the diplomats at the more established missions in Havana, namely the American and the British. The DEA expected Canadian diplomats in Havana to perform two main duties: protect Canadian commercial interests, which were mostly banking and insurance, and increase Canada's trade opportunities in Cuba.3 However, international political concerns also played a role in determining