UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US economic embargo on Cuba for 31st straight year

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for a 31st straight year.

The vote on the resolution in the 193-member General Assembly tied the record for support for the Caribbean island nation: The vote was 187 in favor, with the United States and Israel opposed, and Ukraine abstaining.

The “yes” vote was up from 185 last year and 184 in 2021, and tied the 2019 vote of 187.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez urged the assembly before the vote to support “reason and justice,” the U.N. Charter and international law, and declared: “Let Cuba live without the blockade!”

He said the U.S. embargo “constitutes a crime of genocide” and “an act of economic warfare during times of peace” aimed at weakening Cuba’s economic life, leaving its people hungry and desperate, and overthrowing the government.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding and are unenforceable, but they reflect world opinion and the vote has given Cuba an annual stage to demonstrate the isolation of the U.S. in its decades-old efforts to isolate the Caribbean island nation.

The embargo was imposed in 1960 following the revolution led by Fidel Castro and the nationalization of properties belonging to U.S. citizens and corporations. Two years later it was strengthened.