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News > Latin America

G-77 and China Reaffirm Support for Cuba Ahead of UN Vote

  • U.N. General Assembly debating the U.S. blockade against Cuba.

    U.N. General Assembly debating the U.S. blockade against Cuba. | Photo: EFE

Published 1 November 2018
Opinion

A broad consensus against the U.S. blockade is expected at the U.N. General Assembly.

The United Nations General Assembly, which holds more than 193 countries, will vote Thursday on the United States blockade against Cuba. On Wednesday, the Group of 77 plus China, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) confirmed their support for the island. 

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They all rejected a policy that violates the human rights of an entire people, according to the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was approved by the U.N. General Assembly in 1948.

Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez predicted an "overwhelming" victory, similar to the diplomatic victories of the past 20+ years. Rodriguez also expressed his certainty that the United States' eight amendments to the draft resolution will be rejected, arguing they have no other purpose than to continue hardening the blockade.

"The United States continues to apply the same old, obsolete, criminal, and genocidal policy anchored in the Cold War but the world consensus against the blockade is totally unanimous’, the foreign minister stressed.

The blockade was imposed under the Kennedy Administration in 1962, in an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution by imposing extreme economic difficulties.

Since then, the economic, commercial, and financial blockade has remained intact despite worldwide condemnations that have labeled the blockade as an act of war.

Egyptian Ambassador Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta recalled the positive steps taken by Barack Obama's administration and stressed that the actions taken by the current U.S. administration are a rollback in the normalization of relations between the two countries. "I reaffirm the Group's commitment to the U.N. Charter, in particular, the principle of non-intervention and non-interference in the internal affairs of States, which must be assumed by all," the Egyptian Ambassador said, expressing deep concern about the impact of sanctions and travel bans on the Cuban people.

During Wednesday's debate, Celac and Caricom representatives highlighted that the blockade is undermining Cuba's development potential. This year alone, the U.S. unilateral measure has represented losses worth more than US$4 billion for Cuba.

Russian Permanent Representative to the U.N. Vasily Nebenzya also demanded to lift the U.S. blockade fully and immediately.

"It is an odious relic of the Cold War and a flagrant example of illegitimate unilateral sanctions measures... a counter-productive and groundless anachronism that goes against the goal of progressive development of international cooperation," the Russian diplomat said.

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