On January 28, 1976, speaking in Spanish to a Cuban audience, Pierre Elliott Trudeau uttered one of the most extraordinary declarations ever made by a Canadian prime minister. It was the third and final day of an official visit to Cuba by Trudeau and his wife, Margaret. The Cold War was in its 30th year. Sharing the stage in the port city of Cienfuegos with Fidel Castro, his communist host, Trudeau said he and Castro had had extensive talks and differed on many things, but had agreed to “disagree honourably and without disrespect.” He summed up with the electrifying words: “Long live Cuba and the Cuban people! Long live Prime Minister Fidel Castro! Long live Cuban-Canadian friendship!”
This is the pivotal event in Three Nights in Havana: Pierre Trudeau, Fidel Castro and the Cold War World, Robert Wright’s engaging account of the two men and the relationship that evolved between Canada and Cuba after Castro led his guerrillas to power in 1959. The book is...
Paul Knox, a former reporter, editor and foreign correspondent for the Globe and Mail, is associate professor emeritus in the School of Journalism at Ryerson University.
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