News - Middle East: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his country will lead a movement to defend Cuba's sovereignty and to remove the US blockade of the country, in place since the 1960s.

"We will continue to demand the lifting of the blockade from Cuba, it is inhumane... I propose to [Cuban] President Miguel Diaz-Canel that Mexico lead a more active movement, that all countries unite and that Cuba's independence and sovereignty be protected," the Mexican president said at a meeting with his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel, on Saturday.

"I express with the respect that the government of the United States must, as soon as possible, lift the unfair and inhumane blockade against the people of Cuba,” he added.

“Mexico and Cuba are brotherly nations. I accompany President Andrés Manuel López Obrador at the awarding ceremony of the Aztec Eagle award to President Miguel Díaz-Canel of Cuba, in Edzná, Campeche (Mexico),” Marcelo Ebrard C., a Mexican government representative, tweeted in Spanish.

The US trade embargo has been in place against Cuba since 1962. It was reinforced under former US President Donald Trump. Trump’s successor has chosen to tread on the same path.