UN General Assembly Condemns US Embargo of Cuba Again, by 130 Votes to 17

The United Nations General Assembly has again voted in favour of a resolution condemning the United States' economic embargo of Cuba, despite a push by US officials to peel off support. The resolution passed by a wide margin in Wednesday's vote.

The resolution passed with 130 countries in favour and 17 opposed, including the US and Israel. Another 25 countries abstained, including Germany and Italy, which had previously voted in favour. The General Assembly has voted to condemn the embargo annually for more than three decades.

The Assembly has now held this vote every year for more than three decades.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a social media post after the vote that the US was once again isolated in its attempt to continue strangling the Cuban people. He added that neither its pretexts nor its pressures nor its media campaign would prevail over the force of facts and truth.

The US embargo on Cuba, part of an effort to isolate the country and squeeze its economy, has lasted more than six decades. It has been widely condemned on the world stage and linked to worsening hardship on the island.

President Donald Trump's administration has implemented a series of additional economic restrictions, including an energy blockade, to further tighten the pressure.

That economic campaign has been accompanied by a US diplomatic push to further isolate Havana, and US officials pointed to the increase in abstentions in Wednesday's vote as evidence of it. Cuban officials accused the US of threatening countries with tariffs, visa restrictions and other penalties if they voted to condemn the embargo.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told reporters after the vote that he was satisfied that so many countries, including major economies such as Korea and Germany, had shifted their position. He said diplomacy takes time, but with a tripling of the countries that have shifted, they expect that number to keep growing.

Tensions between US and Cuban officials had exploded on Tuesday during a General Assembly debate, with both sides yelling at each other and an apparent shoving match taking place.

Waltz said on Wednesday that Richard Tur de la Concepcion, a first secretary at Cuba's UN mission, would be expelled from the country for assaulting an American diplomat.