United Nations Overwhelmingly Calls for End to US Embargo on Cuba

The United Nations General Assembly has once again called for an end to the United States’ economic embargo on Cuba. In this year’s vote, 165 countries supported the resolution, while seven voted against and 12 abstained.

An embargo is a government-imposed ban on trade or economic activity with another country. In this case, the US embargo blocks most commercial and financial exchanges with Cuba and has been in place since the Cold War.

Despite strong global support, the United States, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, North Macedonia, Paraguay, and Ukraine voted against the resolution. Belize was among the countries that voted in favour of ending the embargo.

This marks a slight shift from last year, when 187 nations backed the resolution and only the U.S. and Israel voted against it. The US attempted to sway votes by alleging that thousands of Cubans are fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, a claim Cuba strongly denied. 

Speaking before the vote, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez condemned the embargo as “a policy of collective punishment”. 

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Jeff Bartos, defended Washington’s position, stating, “The United States will continue to promote accountability for the communist regime.”

Although the UN vote carries symbolic and political weight, it does not have the power to lift the embargo. That authority lies solely with the U.S. Congress. The General Assembly has passed similar resolutions annually for over 30 years.