 Danette LeCompte and son Cody. (QMI Agency photo)
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TORONTO - Cody LeCompte's release was helped by the Cuban government's desire to keep a shiny tourism image, a Canadian cabinet minister says.
LeCompte, 19, of Simcoe, Ont., will return home next week after being forced to stay in Cuba by police since April after his rental car was involved in a crash.
"It's a reality that the Cuban government saw the media coverage of Cody's situation as something - if prolonged, would have a negative impact on the tourism industry," said Peter Kent, minister of state for foreign affairs.
"The local police who have been conducting the investigation contacted the family and told them the investigation will be closed but there are still some formalities to be worked through, which are being assisted by counsellor officers from the Canadian embassy in Havana," he said.
Kent said he became involved in the case when he and parliamentary secretary Deepak Obhrai were at the African Union summit in Kampala, Uganda last week meeting with senior Cuban officials.
"We made it clear we didn't want to interfere in the judicial process in Cuba but we encouraged them to complete the investigation and resolve it as quickly as possible," he said.
In addition, Kent said he sent a diplomatic note to the foreign affairs ministry in Havana last week and this week he called a Cuban official into the department of foreign affairs in Ottawa.
"I issued a statement yesterday, which recognized the fact that many millions of Canadian tourists visited Cuba over the years and I mentioned in a supportive way that it would be unfortunate that prolonged limbo of Cody and his family were to discourage future Canadian tourists to visit that island," he said.
"I was talking to Cody's mother this morning and when she was asked what advice she had for Canadian tourists in the wake of this, she said to stay on the resort and if you leave, use public transit or tour buses because it's just not worth the anxiety and the cost."
jenny.yuen@sunmedia.ca
