Paris, Feb 4 (Prensa Latina) French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu today described the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba as illegal and acknowledged its consequences for the lives of the island’s population.
In a question and answer session with the Government in the National Assembly, the president pointed out that France opposes this decades-old policy every year at the UN, and that it does so in its capacity as a member of the General Assembly of the multilateral body and as a permanent member of its Security Council.
Lecornu intervened after the president of the Democratic and Republican Left group in the lower house, Stéphane Peu, demanded a reaction from Paris both nationally and at the European level against the decree issued by Donald Trump last week in which he threatened tariffs on countries that supply or send oil to Cuba.
Peu denounced the impact the new measure will have on vital sectors of the population and the instability it will bring to the Caribbean, a region where France has a presence with its overseas territories of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin.
The communist deputy called for humanitarian assistance for Cubans and the activation of European Union mechanisms to combat the extraterritoriality of the blockade imposed by the United States and any unilateral attempt to obstruct aid.
According to the prime minister, France has assisted Cuba whenever it has deemed it necessary and will continue to do so, although without referring to Trump’s decree that labels the island “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the national security of the northern power or to the oil embargo that he intends to establish by pressuring third parties.
In his remarks, Lecornu mentioned the Cuban people, but distanced himself from the government of the Caribbean nation, after which Peu reminded him that during the Covid-19 pandemic, Cuban doctors helped French overseas territories.
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