UN General Assembly again calls for end of US embargo on Cuba

World Today

For 28 years, the UN General Assembly has passed a resolution, calling for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba.

CGTN’s Liling Tan reports.

By a vote of 187 nations in favor, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution that condemns and calls for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba.

The U.S., as expected, objected along with Israel and Brazil. Colombia and Ukraine abstained.

“President Donald Trump’s government has begun escalating its aggression against Cuba by applying unconventional measures in order to prevent the supply of fuel to our country through sanctions and threats to ships, shipping companies, and insurance companies from diverse markets. Its goal, beyond disturbing the economy, is to damage the Cuban families’ standard of living,” said Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba.

The U.S. blockade dates back to 1960 when it was first imposed. And since 1992, the General Assembly has passed a resolution condemning the embargo every year, for 28 years. The Obama administration in 2014 tried to normalize relations with Havana but those steps were reversed by the Trump administration, to the disappointment of many nations.

China was among countries calling for an end to the embargo.

“According to statistics, in the period from April 2018 to March 2019, the embargo cost Cuba over $2 billion US dollars of foreign trade losses as well as over $700 million dollars of financial losses. This is contrary to the purposes of the principles of the UN Charter and the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly,” said Zhang Jun the Chinese Ambassador to the UN.

Russia said the U.S. blockade has cost more than $900 billion dollars in economic damage. Ahead of the vote, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft defended the U.S. embargo.

“Like all nations, we get to choose which countries we trade with. This is our sovereign right. So, it is worrying that the international community, in the name of protecting sovereignty, continues to challenge this right. But what is even more concerning is that every year, this body entertains the claim that the Cuban regime has no other choice than to abuse its own people in response to the embargo,” said Kelly Craft the U.S. Ambassador to the UN.

This was a vote that once again put the U.S. against the international community.