MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Overwhelming UN support to end US embargo on Cuba

The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly 185-3 on Wednesday to renew its annual demand that the United States end its 46 year trade and financial embargo against Cuba.

The United States, Israel and Palau voted against the resolution adopted by the 192-nation assembly. (Micronesia and Marshal Islands abstained). Resolutions passed in previous years have not swayed Washington, which considers those decisions non-binding despite the overwhelming support by UN members. In 2007 Cuba received the support from 184 UN country members. Since a similar resolution was first presented in 1992 by 59 countries the initiative has progressively increased to 179 in 2004 and 185 in 2008. This year's resolution repeated the call for governments not to support the Helms-Burton Act passed by Congress in 1996 that penalizes countries doing business with Cuba. The UN said the act violates other states' sovereignty and "the legitimate interests of entities or persons under their jurisdiction and the freedom of trade and navigation." The UN resolution called on governments with national legislation conforming to the embargo, "to repeal of invalidate them as soon as possible". The resolution also requests that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon prepare a "report on the abidance of the current resolution". France, the current leader of the European Union, said before the assembly vote that it is opposed to the US trade embargo against Cuba, which it said is an issue between the two countries that should not be extended to other countries. "The European Union cannot accept that the unilateral measures imposed by the US on specific countries limit the EU economic and commercial relations with third countries, in this case Cuba," said French delegate Jean-Pierre Lacroix. Washington enacted the embargo against Cuba in retaliation for Fidel Castro's seizure of US properties in the 1950s and to protest the lack of human rights in the island nation.