The Final Call

Record number of nations oppose U.S. embargo of Cuba in UN vote

What's your opinion on this article?

“Our small island poses no threat to the national security of the superpower.. The human damages caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba are incalculable.” —Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla

The recording-breaking opposition to the embargo saw Israel isolated as the only country to vote in support of the U.S. Palau, the island nation that got behind the U.S. last year, abstained in the 22nd UN annual vote, along with Micronesia and Marshall Islands.

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla conveyed Havana’s disappointment at the Obama administration, stressing that the human cost of the embargo is “incalculable.” Upon assuming the presidency Barack Obama pledged to take steps to improve U.S.-Cuban relations, but diplomat Rodriguez said the sanctions had actually tightened under Obama.

“Our small island poses no threat to the national security of the superpower,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “The human damages caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba are incalculable.”

Mr. Rodriguez also stated that the sanctions had been classified as “genocide” under the Geneva Convention of 1948 and the total cost to the Cuban economy was estimated at $1.1 trillion.

Several other nations spoke out against the U.S. embargo at the UN vote. China’s Deputy UN Ambassador Wang Min urged the U.S. to “change its policy toward Cuba” as the “call of the international community is getting louder and louder.”

Moreover, Bolivia’s UN ambassador Sacha Llorenty Soliz decried the embargo as “sullying the history of mankind.”

In the name of human rights?

The U.S. mounted its defense in the face of overwhelming opposition and a barrage of criticism, claiming the sanctions were in place “urge respect for the civil and human rights.”

Seeking to justify the financial penalties that have been held in place for 53 years, U.S. diplomat Ronald Godard said the U.S. was being used as a “scapegoat” for Cuba’s internal issues.

“The international community cannot in good conscience ignore the ease and frequency with which the Cuban regime silences critics, disrupts peaceful assembly [and], impedes independent journalism,” Mr. Godard said to the assembled UN countries.

Moreover, Mr. Godard added that the U.S. had sent $2 billion in remittances to Cuba in 2012 and underlined that the U.S. provides a large portion of the food aid to the island.

The U.S. began imposing economic penalties on Cuba when Fidel Castro seized power in 1959 and nationalized property owned by American individuals and corporations. The measures were ratcheted up three years later by the U.S. government to a full embargo on Cuba.

Last year Washington took action to ease travel to and from Cuba, granting 16,767 visas to Cubans in the first half of 2013—80 percent more than were issued in the same period in 2012.

Related news:

The U.S. Fails to Isolate Cuba Once Again (FCN, 07-07-2009)

Fidel Castro: A friend of revolution (FCN, 06-16-2009)

The Good Samaritan: A Study of Cuba (FCN, Minister Farrakhan, 03-27-2006)

Black journalists get close-up view of Cuba (FCN, 06-11-2002)

Pope to U.S.: Lift Cuban embargo (FCN, 02-03-1998)