United Nations (United States) (AFP) – The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a new resolution calling for an end to the US embargo against Cuba, although support for the communist-ruled island fell to its lowest level in three decades. Nearly every year since 1992, similar resolutions have been put to a vote and passed, but support for the measure this year was markedly lower. The resolution, which has called for lifting the economic, trade, and financial embargo against the island, received 130 votes in favor, 17 against, and 25 abstentions. It was the lowest level of support since 1995.
This year’s Cuban resolution included a reference to the impact of restrictions on fuel supplies to the island imposed by the United States since January. In recent weeks, Havana accused Washington of mounting a diplomatic offensive to pressure countries into withdrawing their support for the Cuban resolution. “The world has once again spoken out overwhelmingly against the blockade, even despite the most blatant pressure and blackmail from the US to change the course of this vote,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a celebratory post on X Wednesday, later adding that the US engages in “gangster-like coercion.”
Speaking in New York, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez accused Washington of seeking to “determine the nation’s destiny” and “seize” its wealth. In the minutes before the vote, US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz denied that Cuba was under a blockade and said, “the plight of the Cuban people is exclusively the fault of this corrupt communist regime.” “The reality is, today as we speak, there is no ring of US Navy warships around Cuba. Their ports are open. In recent months, data shows that shipments have arrived,” from around the world, he added.
The vote came a day after a dramatic shouting match on the floor of the UN General Assembly that at one point saw Rodriguez approach Waltz and shout, “You are a liar!” as Waltz shouted for him to back away. Amid the interruptions, the chair briefly suspended the session and instructed both countries’ representatives to return to their places. In his speech arguing against the resolution on Tuesday, Waltz held up pictures of Cuban leaders past and present, including Diaz-Canel, wearing luxury watches, prompting the Cuban delegation to repeatedly smack their desk in protest and interrupt.
Waltz later held up satellite images and detailed luxury estates, boats, and vacations that he claimed the Castro family and Cuban officials enjoy. “The regime can never find enough fuel for Cuban ambulances. They can never find enough fuel for Cuban busses. But when the Castro family, the elites that are sitting at that table, want to go yachting, suddenly, it’s no problem,” Waltz said. Speaking on Fox News on Wednesday after the vote, Waltz said that the previous day’s debate “got a little spicy.”
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