The United Nations General Assembly voted on Wednesday to condemn the United States economic embargo on Cuba, passing the resolution by 130 votes to 17, with 25 abstentions. It was another year of backing for the annual condemnation, which the Assembly has adopted for more than three decades, except in 2020 during the COVID pandemic — but the margin was much narrower than last year, when the vote was 165 in favour, seven against and 12 abstentions. The resolution carries political weight but is not legally binding, and only the US Congress can lift the embargo, which has been in place for more than 60 years.

A shift in support

The most striking change was among Western states. Germany and Italy abstained for the first time in many years, according to Reuters, after a US lobbying campaign aimed at changing the outcome. The US envoy to the UN, Mike Waltz, told reporters after the vote: “I'm satisfied that so many countries now, including major economies like Korea, like Germany, and others have shifted their position.” Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez took a very different view, writing on social media that the US was attempting to subject the Cuban people to “collective punishment and genocide” — language that is his characterisation, not an established finding.

Heated exchanges at the UN

Tensions spilled into open confrontation during the debate. Reuters reported shouting matches between Cuban and American representatives in the corridors and on the Assembly floor on Tuesday. Waltz accused a Cuban diplomat of assaulting an American diplomat during those exchanges and said the Cuban first secretary would be expelled from the US; Cuba's UN mission did not immediately respond to questions on the expulsion, according to Reuters.

Sources: Reuters and Associated Press, via Military.com.