During an interview to Prensa Latina, Fernandez said that the French association founded in 1995 set as objectives to reinforce the fight against the US blockade, as this siege is the main obstacle for the development of the island, disseminate the Cuban reality and promote the economic collaboration with concrete actions.

An important element of the agenda is to continue expanding the local socio-economic development through the decentralized cooperation, focused on provinces such as Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba, as of initiatives agreed with their authorities, he stated.

According to Fernandez, the experience of more than two decades of work in the island ratifies CubaCoop’s vision that for that approach, to listen to the needs and proposals by local actors is necessary.

He highlighted among the goals the opening of a new page of collaboration with Havana, which would include the facilitation of the joint work of the 15 capital municipalities with French territories, on the basis of already existing agreements and other new ones such as one between the major cities of Havana and Marseille.

Regarding the prioritized sectors of the 2022-2024 agenda, the CubaCoop president mentioned water, sanitation, food sovereignty, agriculture, renewable energies, culture and sports.

pgh/iff/jf/wmr