UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution calling for an end to the US embargo against Cuba, but support for the measure fell to its lowest level in more than three decades amid heightened diplomatic pressure from Washington.
The resolution, adopted on Wednesday, received 130 votes in favour, 17 against and 25 abstentions, marking the weakest level of support since 1995. Similar resolutions have been put to a vote almost every year since 1992 and have consistently secured broad international backing.
The annual resolution calls for the lifting of the United States’ economic, trade and financial embargo against the communist-ruled Caribbean island. This year’s text also referred to the impact of restrictions on fuel supplies to Cuba imposed by the United States since January.
UN votes in favour of resolution calling US to remove sanction over Cuba. 130 countries voted in favour, 17 voted against. https://t.co/AuNrEPzpIU
— Geo Frontline (@geofrontlinetv) October 29, 2026
In recent weeks, Havana has accused Washington of conducting a diplomatic campaign to persuade countries to withdraw their support for the resolution.
“The world has once again spoken out overwhelmingly against the blockade,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a post on X on Wednesday, despite what he described as US pressure and blackmail aimed at influencing the vote.
He later accused Washington of engaging in “gangster-like coercion”. Speaking in New York ahead of the vote, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez accused the United States of seeking to “determine the nation’s destiny” and “seize” its wealth.
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However, US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz rejected the characterisation of US policy as a blockade, arguing that Cuba’s economic difficulties stemmed from its own government.
“The plight of the Cuban people is exclusively the fault of this corrupt communist regime,” Waltz said. Although the resolution secured a clear majority, the reduced level of support underscored a shift in the diplomatic landscape surrounding Cuba’s long-running dispute with Washington.
The UNGA vote is a political statement of international opinion rather than a legally binding measure requiring the United States to lift its embargo.
