Cuban Ambassador to Belgium, Yaira Jiménez, provided an update on Cuba's current affairs to members of the Belgium-Cuba section of the Belgian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (Friendship Group). During the meeting, they dialogued about the constitution of the X legislature and the priorities and opportunities for the current legislative cycle.
The meeting was attended by Raoul Hedebouw (PTB), deputy and president of the Group, Latifa Gahouchi, senator and head of the Socialist Party Group in the Senate, deputies André Flahaut, Nabil Boukili and Greet Daems and parliamentary assistants.
This initiative is the result of the development of inter-parliamentary ties between the two countries. In 2022 alone, five delegations of Cuban deputies visited Belgium and exchanged with parliamentarians and other authorities.
André Flahaut and Raoul Hedebouw, members of the Belgian House of Representatives acknowledged Cuba's resistance and rejected the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States.
Flahaut (Socialist Party) described as unacceptable, unfair, and inhumane the siege applied by Washington to the Antillean nation for more than six decades and highlighted the solidarity practiced by Cuba and the social dynamics that characterize it, particularly with regard to public health and women's rights.
For his part, Hedebouw - president of the Belgian Labor Party - questioned the U.S. blockade policy and its impact on the economy of a small country that "is trying to develop on the basis of a different system, socialism".
He stressed that ¨it is time for the EU to make its voice heard in the fight against the blockade; the priorities of the United States are not ours¨.The political leader expressed his appreciation for the meeting with the Ambassador and diplomats of the island, as well as for the opportunity to learn details of the Cuban reality.
The Cuban Ambassador reiterated her gratitude for the expressions of solidarity with the Cuban people, especially for the condemnation of the U.S. blockade.