Cubans Resident in Europe Meet in Belgium

The 13th Meeting of Cubans Resident in Europe (ECRE) begins on Friday in Belgium with the attendance of participants from some 20 countries.

According to sources close to the event, on this occasion it will be attended by the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power representatives, Lizzete Martinez Luzardo and the troubadour Raul Torres, as well as the director of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ernesto Soberon.

The event, which will be extended until Sunday, is organized by the host association, Cubabel, and the participants will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the wars of independence, the 65th anniversary of the Assault on the Moncada Garrison, and will celebrate National Culture Day.

Belgium will host for the second time (the first time 10 years ago) the event, on the 40th anniversary of the historic 1978 dialogue, which initiated the process of rapprochement between the Cuban Revolutionary Government and its emigration.

The program will include debates on the impact on the Cuban community in Europe of the extraterritorial application of the blockade imposed by the United States against the island, as well as on the Constitutional Reform process currently underway in the Caribbean nation.

Cuba-European Union relations, migration issues, as well as the links between nation and emigration will also be addressed.

As part of the collateral program, meetings are planned with representatives of the Belgian movement of solidarity with Cuba, in order to agree on the implementation of actions aimed at defending and respecting the sovereignty of the country and to counteract the growing aggressiveness of Donald Trump's government policy.