Brussels, October 22 (RHC)-- A meeting of Cubans living in Europe demanded that the United States end its nearly six-decade blockade of their native country.

“We will continue to fight the blockade,” meeting organizer Menia Martinez told Prensa Latina news agency in Brussels. “There will soon be a new vote on the issue at the United Nations, and we want our voice from Europe to be heard.  We oppose the blockade; it hurts both Cubans on the island and Cubans living abroad," she stressed.

Organized by the association of Cubans living in Belgium, this is the 13th annual encounter of Cubans residing in Europe.  Some 200 participants from nearly 20 countries attended the gathering.  The director for Consular Affairs in Cuba's Foreign Ministry, Ernesto Soberon, traveled to Belgium for the event.

The association of Cubans living in Europe presented the European Parliament with a document outlining the negative impacts of Washington's blockade on Cuba since 1959, a policy that has intensified under the administration of Donald Trump.

The meeting in Brussels of Cubans living in Europe agreed to hold their next continental encounter in France in the year 2020.