Havana, Cuba.- With over six decades of cooperation with Cuba, the French organization *Secours Populaire* (Popular Relief) is extending its solidarity to this “friendly nation,” at a time when the U.S. blockade is literally attempting to suffocate the Caribbean country.

The first intervention by *Secours Populaire* in Cuba took place in 1963, in response to a climate-related emergency, explained Olga Álvarez, a member of the organization’s international solidarity team.

“However, it was starting in 1993 — during the island’s ‘Special Period’ — that we began developing significant food security projects alongside our Cuban counterparts,” the expert noted.

“We are always ready to provide assistance during emergencies; most recently, following Hurricane Melisa in 2025, we provided roofing materials for the eastern province of Granma.”

“There are also initiatives focused on children. For instance, this past summer, in collaboration with the Cuban Ministry of Education, we organized a program titled ‘A Friendly Nation’ (*Un pueblo amigo del mundo*), which brought together 160 children and their chaperones at the ‘Ernesto Che Guevara’ Palace of the Pioneers,” Álvarez added.

“Currently, in light of the severe energy crisis facing Cuba, we have launched a project to provide the country with one thousand solar panels,” she stated.

“We have coordinated with the Cuban Association of Animal Production (ACPA) and the Cuban Association of Agroforestry Technicians (ACTAF) to identify priority locations — in consultation with the relevant government ministries — for the installation of these solar panels,” she affirmed. This practice has benefited, among others, the Poultry Research Institute; the Center for Drug Research and Development (CIDEM) — which works on diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s — as well as hospitals and special education centers, she explained.

Cuba is a nation that shows solidarity with other countries around the world, and today it needs us to show solidarity in return, she reflected.

And here we are — just as at other points in its history — standing by their side, providing support through initiatives like the solar panel project, aimed at easing the energy crisis that is affecting the entire population and essential services in Cuba, she emphasized.

Furthermore, she noted that within the framework of its cooperation project with Latin America, *Secours Populaire* (People’s Relief) does not work solely on a bilateral basis with Cuba; it also engages with Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, Argentina, and other nations.

“In reality, we establish links with other associations, creating further synergies,” stated the representative from the French organization.

For instance, the project “Cooperating Differently with Agents of Change” brought together associations from Colombia, El Salvador and Mexico, along with *Secours Populaire* in France, as well as the ACPA and ACTAF, she explained.

Within this framework, various activities were carried out — including work in apiculture — as Cuba hosted delegations from these countries to foster collaboration and exchange knowledge regarding beekeeping, Álvarez noted.

This is one of the fields in which Cuba possesses highly developed expertise — specifically in apiculture and the role of bees in the context of climate change.