Resolution calling for an end to the embargo on Cuba adopted

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for the United States to lift its economic and commercial embargo on Cuba.

US AND ISRAEL VOTE AGAINST

The resolution was voted on in the 193-member UN General Assembly. The resolution was adopted with 187 votes in favor, against 1 abstention and 2 votes against. The US and Israel voted against, while Ukraine abstained.

The resolution calls for an end to the US “economic, commercial, and financial” embargo on Cuba.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla stated in his speech there, “The 60-year US embargo violates the rights of Cuban men and women.”

Stating that there are difficulties in supplying food products as well as medicine due to the embargoes, Parrilla expressed that for this reason, the Cuban people are forced to use much less effective medicines.

ATTEMPTS TO LIFT THE EMBARGO HAVE BEEN MADE FOR 11 YEARS

Since 2012, resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly have called on the US to end the embargo.

The non-binding UN General Assembly resolution serves as a recommendation and demonstrates the stance of the international community. The embargoes imposed by the US on Cuba first began in 1960 and their scope was further expanded in the following years.