Havana, June 28 (RHC)-- The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, held a fruitful exchange this Friday with the president of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Dennis Francis, on an official visit to the island.

“We agree on the urgent challenges imposed by the current international scenario and the need to strengthen multilateralism and the UNGA, as the most democratic body of the United Nations system,” said the Cuban head of state.

On Friday, Francis was also received by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and paid tribute to the National Hero José Martí, in the Plaza de la Revolución.

He also gave the keynote lecture “Cuba and Multilateralism: Opportunities and Challenges”, in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana.

In his speech, he highlighted the role of the Caribbean nation in defending multilateralism, peace, respect for sovereignty, equality and the country's efforts to guarantee the rights of children and women, and improve the quality of health and education.

Prior to the dissertation, Dennis Francis received the 295th Anniversary Plaque from the University of Havana, in recognition of his services "to the cause of understanding of peoples in an environment of peace."

Likewise, the UN official was presented with a woodcut by the painter and engraver Lesbia Vent Dumois, National Prize for Plastic Arts (2019), inspired by a poem from the book West Indies, Ltd., written by Nicolás Guillén, National Poet of the Caribbean nation  (Prensa Latina).