In his online address to the general assembly of the France-Cuba association, the diplomat acknowledged the decades of support provided by the organization, founded in 1961, and its various initiatives of political and material solidarity.

  Vaillant emphasized the importance of international support at a time when the administration of President Donald Trump is intensifying the economic, commercial, and financial blockade against the Caribbean nation with suffocating measures, such as an oil embargo that has prevented the arrival of crude oil for more than three months.

  This is a crime with a severe economic and social impact, he warned in his virtual exchange with delegates at the two-day meeting in the southern Occitan city of Agde.

  The ambassador rejected the escalating hostility toward Cuba and the recurring threats from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to seek regime change, reiterated yesterday from Florida and Paris, respectively.

  Cuba does not want war, but is preparing and will not kneel nor renounce its independence, he emphasized.

  For his part, Cuban doctor Sigifredo Montero shared his experiences in the battle for the health of his compatriots under the difficult conditions imposed by the U.S. embargo and its intensification.

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