UN General Assembly again condemns US embargo on Cuba

The UN General Assembly voted 130–17, with 25 abstentions, for its annual resolution calling for an end to the United States economic embargo on Cuba. The measure is nonbinding, but its adoption for a 34th consecutive year sustains broad international opposition to the sanctions. Support fell sharply from the 165–7 vote with 12 abstentions in 2025.

Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, blamed the embargo for shortages and economic hardship. The United States said Havana uses the measure to deflect responsibility for repression and economic mismanagement. Those are the parties’ political arguments; the recorded vote establishes neither claim. The resolution concerns the embargo’s international and humanitarian effects, while Washington retains control over US sanctions law.

The changed margin matters because more governments either opposed the resolution or withheld support after an American diplomatic campaign. It does not mean the General Assembly authorised the embargo, nor does passage compel the United States to remove it. The practical questions remain whether Washington changes policy, how humanitarian exemptions operate, and whether Cuba’s government addresses rights and economic concerns raised by critics independently of the sanctions dispute.