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UN assembly (188 out of 193 countries) condemns US embargo on Cuba

Wednesday, October 29th 2014 - 10:43 UTC
Full article 56 comments
“Right now 77% of Cubans were born under these conditions, Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez told the Assembly” “Right now 77% of Cubans were born under these conditions, Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez told the Assembly”
US ambassador to the UN, Ronald Godard, signaled that the support was no excuse for “the treatment the [Cuban] regime gives its own people.” US ambassador to the UN, Ronald Godard, signaled that the support was no excuse for “the treatment the [Cuban] regime gives its own people.”

The United Nations General Assembly for the 21st time on Tuesday condemned the economic and trade embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba, a policy that has been in place for over half a century. 188 countries out of 193 voted against the restrictions imposed by Washington against Cuba, which date back to 1962, three years after Fidel Castro took power in a revolution.

 Three nations, Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands, abstained, while just the US and Israel voted in favor of the blockade.

“Right now 77% of Cubans were born under these conditions, Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez told the Assembly as he asked for their rejection of the embargo. ”We invite the United States government to a mutually respectful relationship, on a reciprocal basis.“

The UN has moved on more than 20 occasions against the measures known as the 'blockade' in Cuba, with more and more countries rejecting the restrictions, which are considered counter-productive to the struggle to secure more civil liberties on the island.

Several delegations also pointed out the country's cooperation internationally, for example in the fight against Ebola in West Africa. Havana has sent more than 250 doctors and health workers in the last few weeks to affected nations such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

But US ambassador to the UN, Ronald Godard, signaled that the support was no excuse for ”the treatment the [Cuban] regime gives its own people.”

A more critical stance towards the embargo has also grown in the US itself in recent years. The New York Times newspaper called for the end of the policy in an editorial, and elsewhere revealed a change in the mentality of some Cuban 'exiles', an influential force in the electoral swing state Florida and historically in favor of a hard line approach on the Castro brothers regime.

Top Comments

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  • Captain Poppy

    So is the article saying that trade with the USA is the answer to Cuban prosperity? Condemn all you want......it;s your right as is ours to choose whom we trade with with......or not.

    Oct 29th, 2014 - 11:04 am 0
  • inthegutter

    #1

    While I'm no fan of the Cuban government (though I applaud its commitment to universal healthcare) I find the continued embargo odd and, **these days** counter productive. During the cold war it made sense - and provided a sink for Soviet resources in the form of aid.

    However, I think change in Cuba could be driven by trade with the US. Moreover, the US trades (or has traded) with countries that have much worse human rights records.

    Oct 29th, 2014 - 11:42 am 0
  • ChrisR

    I cannot see why the US would even consider this move whilst the Bat-shit Mad communist Castro brothers are still alive.

    Allowing the Russians to place nuclear missiles and threaten the US with them is simply unforgivable.

    There is no doubt in my mind, and I watched this unfold, that Fidel would have used them if he had the chance, so fuck them all.

    Oct 29th, 2014 - 11:55 am 0
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