UN General Assembly resolution calls for end to US embargo on Cuba
The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution that calls for an end to the decades-long embargo imposed on Cuba by the United States.
The 193-member assembly adopted the resolution by a near-unanimous vote on Tuesday, with only the United States and the Israeli regime voting against it.
The vote was the most unique in 24 years of repeated calls by the UN on Washington to stop the commercial, economic and financial embargo against Cuba. Last year, three member states, namely Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau, abstained; the US and the Tel Aviv regime voted against.
The resolution came nearly three months after a historic thaw in relations between Washington and Havana.
The UN General Assembly welcomed the re-establishment of ties after a 55-year break and recognized “the expressed will” of US President Barack Obama to do away with the embargo.
However, US officials said the text of the resolution could not gain the support of Washington while the final decision on lifting the draconian embargoes rests with US Congress. Republicans in Congress are staunchly opposed to any easing of the restrictions imposed in 1960 at the height of the Cold War.
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Ron Godard said Cuba would be mistaken to suppose that the UN resolution could facilitate the lifting of sanctions.
“If Cuba thinks this exercise will move things forward in the direction that both governments have indicated they wish, it is mistaken,” he said, adding that the resolution did not reflect “the significant steps taken and the spirit of engagement President Obama has championed.”
Cuba has repeatedly called for the immediate lifting of the embargo, describing it as the main obstacle to the country’s economic development. Cuba estimates that damage from the embargo amounts to over USD 830 billion.
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