185 Countries Pass Resolution Against US Blockade of Cuba

On Thursday, the resolution "Need to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba" received 185 votes in favor during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

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The resolution against the genocidal blockade that Washington has maintained for over 60 years obtained the majority of votes, with two abstentions and two countries against: Israel and the United States.

Measured at current prices, the damages caused by the U.S. blockade to the Cuban people amount to US$150 billion, which has severely impacted the Cuban economy during the last 6 decades.

"Thirty years have passed since the UNGA began to annually demand the end of this policy, which has been typified as an act of genocide," Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez recalls, emphasizing that the U.S. blockade has the effect of a " permanent pandemic."

Before the debate began, Rodriguez held a meeting with UNGA president Csaba Korosi, to whom he reaffirmed Cuba's commitment to multilateralism and the struggle of its people to live without a blockade.

Joaquin Perez, the alternate ambassador of Venezuela to the United Nations, demanded the lifting of the U.S. blockade and reiterated the solidary support of his nation to the Cuban government and people.

“This obsolete suffocation policy is the most unjust and prolonged one that has ever been applied against any country. It denies the right to political plurality and free will. It seams that economic coercion is the U.S. government's preferred tool to extend its interests,” he said.