HAVANA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the election of Donald Trump to the White House will not change Canada’s liberal approach to Cuba, and he used it as an example of the kinds of stances that define Canada’s sense of itself as a distinct nation.

“At the same time, however, Canada has always been a steadfast and unflinching friend to Cuba, and we’ve never found any contradiction for us between being strong friends to Cuba and good friends and partners with the United States.

“Indeed, that’s one of the ways we assure ourselves that we are own country, that we make our own choices, and that we are willing to stand for our values and project on the world stage and make our own decisions.”

Speaking to an audience of students of the University of Havana, Trudeau was quizzed by them on how he viewed the results of the U.S. election last week, and whether he supports the lifting of the U.S. trade and investment embargo, which remains in place despite the December 2014 deal between U.S. President Barack Obama and Castro to “normalize” relations.

Trump has sent mixed signals, but near the end of the campaign vowed to “cancel Obama’s one-sided Cuban deal.”

At first, Trudeau repeated much of what he has said since President-elect Trump’s surprise win: that the economies of Canada and U.S. are interdependent, and long historic ties between their populations will endure.

“Regardless of who Americans choose for their president, that will continue,” he said.

Trudeau said, at times, the differences between Canadian prime ministers and U.S. presidents created “difficult conversations.”

But he insisted Canada will “respectfully disagree with a number of our American friends in the way they engage with Cuba.”

About 200 students and VIPS were invited to the event organized by the Cuban government, as Cuban President Raul Castro sat listening.

Trudeau repeatedly referred to him as “my friend Raul,” and was hoping to visit the ailing elder Castro, Fidel, later in the day.

Fidel Castro received his father Pierre in 1976 on a visit, when the elder Trudeau was prime minister of Canada.

Tight Cuban security surrounded the event, which was broadcast live on Cuban national television, a rare gesture towards a foreign leader, according to a Cuban reporter.

One student pressed Trudeau on the U.S. embargo and America’s policy of barring Canadian business people who do business in Cuba.

Trudeau acknowledged that, for a number of Canadian companies and investors who have interests in the United States, “the U.S. political situation and the embargo is a barrier, and challenge.”

Still, he noted there are many Canadian businesses which remain determined to invest in Cuba.

“It’s no surprise we disagree with the approach that the United States has taken with Cuba. We think our approach is much better, of partnership, of collaboration, of engagement, but it’s not our job to tell our friends and allies what they should do and shouldn’t do. It’s our job to make sure that we’re doing what we know we should do and can do in terms of creating opportunities for Canadians, for Canadian companies, but also for Cuba.”

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Former Canadian ambassador to Cuba, Mark Entwhistle, said Trudeau’s comments would be “music” to Cuban ears.

Entwhistle said it would not pose any problem with American allies, because Canada’s position is well-known, and is supported by many large U.S. corporations eager to do business here, the U.S. security and military establishment who he said support rapprochement with Cuba, and with a lot of Cubans in the exile community in Florida.

Trudeau’s remarks were welcomed and echoed by David Pathe, president and CEO of Sherritt International, a Canadian company.

In an interview here with the Star, Pathe said with the election of Trump as incoming president, and a Republican-dominated Congress, the reset of relations “may not proceed apace.”

He said there are a lot of unanswered questions about what Trump’s position is.

But Pathe said the normalization process is inevitable.

“I do think that President Obama has started a process here that is probably irreversible, given what an outlier the embargo is, but the pace at which it moves forward from here is very much in the air and hardly anybody knows the answer to that right now.”

Sherritt is Cuba’s largest foreign investor. It has big mining and energy projects on the island.

Pathe said Sherritt has always made investment decisions knowing the embargo conditions. “And, if the embargo continues for some period of time, then so be it . . . . I think the opening up would be good for Cuba and good for us, and I still think that will happen here as the administration takes power. But we’ve never done our business or planned our business on the assumption that was going to take place on any particular timetable.”

Sherritt produces about two-thirds of Cuba’s oil, and owns a 50-per-cent interest with the Cuban government in a nickel and cobalt mining venture, which includes processing and refining operations.

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Raul Castro talks economic reform to kick off Trudeau’s visit to Cuba

5 things about the last time a Trudeau visited Cuba.