Cuban victory at UN: 184 in favor, 2 against and 3 abstentions

The UN General Assembly adopted today with the support of 184 of its member states a new resolution calling for the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba.

Three abstentions were registered in the vote and only the United States and Israel voted against the lifting of the blockade, who were isolated before the claim of the majority of the international community.

For the twenty-ninth consecutive year since 1992, the countries of the world categorically demanded in the main deliberative organ of the United Nations the lifting of the blockade imposed by Washington 62 years ago.

More than 15 nations and international organizations such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 plus China and the Caribbean Community denounced the damage caused by this mechanism and demanded its end.

Diplomats and senior representatives of different countries condemned the increase in hostile policy and the unilateral coercive measures that the United States Government promoted against Cuba in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a result of the health crisis, the presentation of the draft resolution 'Need to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba' could not be held in the General Assembly last year and was postponed for this date.

In 2019, a similar resolution was also adopted by an overwhelming majority, with 187 votes in favor, three against (the United States, Israel and Brazil) and two abstentions (Colombia and Ukraine).

Facing the vote on Wednesday, the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, denounced that from April 2019 to December 2020, this North American mechanism caused losses of 9,157 million dollars.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs reported that in almost six decades of application of the policy, the damages amount to 147 thousand 853 million dollars.

The human damage, suffering and deprivation caused to Cuban families are incalculable, he noted.

Former US President Donald Trump applied 243 new measures and sanctions against the island during the four years of his mandate, and opportunistically took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to intensify the blockade to extreme levels, the foreign minister stressed.

To date, he added, the Joe Biden government has applied the same policy.

Since November 1992, the UN General Assembly has spoken out every year against Washington's coercive measure, reflected in an almost unanimous vote in favor of the elimination of the economic, commercial and financial blockade.