UN votes overwhelmingly against US embargo on Cuba; Prez Diaz-Canel hails ‘victory’
United Nations, Oct 29 (IANS) The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for an end to the decades-old US embargo on Cuba.
The resolution was adopted with 130 votes in favour, 17 against and 25 abstentions.
It expressed concern about the continued promulgation and application of laws and regulations, including the Helms-Burton Act enacted by the United States in 1996, whose extraterritorial effects undermine the sovereignty of other states, the legitimate interests of individuals and entities under their jurisdiction, and the freedom of trade and navigation.
The resolution calls on all states to refrain from promulgating and applying such laws and measures, and urges states that have applied and continue to apply such laws and measures to take necessary steps to repeal or invalidate them as soon as possible, reports Xinhua news agency.
The resolution also requests the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report on the implementation of this resolution and to submit it to the General Assembly at its next annual session.
Wednesday’s resolution marked the 34th consecutive adoption of a resolution on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba.
Cuba celebrated the overwhelming approval by the UN General Assembly of the resolution, calling it a “victory” in the face of unprecedented pressure from Washington to defeat the initiative.
In a post on X, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel described the resolution’s broad backing as a “victory for the heroic Cuban people,” who have not surrendered despite the “economic suffocation, threats and abuse by the US government.”
Diaz-Canel underscored the overwhelming international opposition to the embargo, “even in the face of the crudest pressure and blackmail” from Washington to alter the outcome of the vote.
The outcome “is a triumph of the truth over those who rely on lies and blackmail to subject an entire nation to collective punishment,” he said.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, who led the Cuban delegation to the UN General Assembly, also called the vote a “new victory” against the US sanctions and further proof that “Cuba is not a threat, the embargo is.”
This marks the 34th time the international community has voted to end the embargo, which official figures show has caused nearly 179 billion US dollars in economic losses to the Caribbean island.
In 2025, countries voted to condemn the embargo with 165 votes in favour, seven against and 12 abstentions.
For more than six decades, Washington has imposed stiff economic, commercial, and financial sanctions on Cuba, a policy intensified by the Trump administration.
–IANS
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