NEW YORK (AFP) - The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution calling for an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the U.S. against Cuba.
A total of 130 countries, including Turkey, voted in favor of the draft resolution calling for the lifting of the embargo on Cuba. Seventeen countries, including the U.S., Ukraine, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates, voted against it, while 25 countries abstained from voting.
Addressing the assembly before the vote, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said the embargo was having a direct impact on the daily lives of Cubans, particularly through shortages of fuel, medicines, food and other essential goods.
“Cuba is not a threat. The blockade is a threat,” Rodriguez said, arguing that the measures were being used as a form of economic pressure against the Cuban population.”
“We are not talking about numbers. We are talking about human lives,” Rodriguez said, adding that the effects of the embargo could be felt “at the dining table of Cuban families” and by patients in hospitals.
Draft resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly since 2012 have called on the U.S. to end the embargo.
The UN General Assembly resolution is non-binding and serves as a recommendation, reflecting the position of the international community. The U.S. embargo against Cuba was first introduced in 1960, and its scope was expanded further in subsequent years.