UN Votes Again to End US Embargo on Cuba, Despite Heavy US Pressure

The United Nations General Assembly has voted for a 34th time to call for an end to the United States embargo on Cuba, with the UN Cuba embargo vote again passing by a large margin despite an intense American pressure campaign, Responsible Statecraft reported on Wednesday.

According to Responsible Statecraft, 130 nations voted in favour of the resolution, 25 abstained and 17 countries, including the United States and Israel, voted against it. The tally is reported by Responsible Statecraft; the resolution is the annual, non-binding text titled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”

The vote followed a two-day debate, on 27 and 28 October, that the United Nations had announced in advance as the 34th vote on the resolution. The United Nations News service said the debate opened on Tuesday and that member states would vote on Wednesday for the 34th time.

UN Cuba embargo vote: a smaller majority than last year

Responsible Statecraft reported that the result marked a shift from last year, when the resolution passed by 165 votes in favour, seven against and 12 abstentions. Against that comparison, 10 more states voted against the measure this year and 13 more abstained, the outlet reported.

Responsible Statecraft named Lithuania, Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates as countries that broke from their historic position by voting against the resolution. It also named Costa Rica, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras and Chile among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that opposed the resolution or abstained, after traditionally backing Cuba’s efforts.

The United States had campaigned openly against the resolution. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, who led the American push, had called the resolution an excuse to justify what he described as Cuba’s oppression and the misery of the Cuban people, Reuters reported before the vote.

Last week, Waltz hosted a small group of United States-backed Cuban dissidents and researchers for an invite-only event making the case against the resolution, and held a press conference with the chief executive of Freedom House under the title “Holding the Cuban Regime Accountable for its Human Rights Abuses,” Responsible Statecraft reported.

Heated debate before the vote

The debate itself turned heated on Tuesday. The Associated Press reported that Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez clashed on the floor of the General Assembly, with Rodríguez approaching the podium to demand a point of order while Waltz was speaking, and the session was briefly suspended before debate resumed.

Rodríguez alleged that United States officials had threatened tariffs, visa denials for foreign officials and their families, and the suspension of United States assistance for countries that did not vote with the United States, Responsible Statecraft reported, noting that he presented no concrete evidence for the claims.

Cuba’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón, had earlier described Waltz’s event as the result of what he called Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “unhealthy obsession with Cuba,” Responsible Statecraft reported.

Responsible Statecraft also reported that Waltz told Fox News that Rubio had signed off on the expulsion from the United States of a Cuban diplomat, after the diplomat tried to prevent a member of Waltz’s staff from filming him as he asked United Nations employees to cut Waltz’s microphone.

What the resolution does — and does not — do

The resolution is not legally binding. It calls on all states to refrain from adopting measures of the kind referred to in the text and urges states that still apply them to repeal them, according to the United Nations. Only the United States Congress can lift the embargo itself, Reuters has noted in its pre-vote coverage.

Mexico’s ambassador to the United Nations, Hector Vasconcelos, said during the debate that the use of unilateral measures to exert external pressure to influence a sovereign state’s internal decisions was incompatible with the principles of the United Nations Charter, Responsible Statecraft reported.

India’s representative said restrictions on fuel exports to Cuba had aggravated the country’s energy crisis, with shortages disrupting healthcare, education, water supplies, food distribution and transportation, and said India hoped the embargo would be lifted at the earliest, Responsible Statecraft reported.

Cuba’s report submitted alongside the draft resolution claimed more than $8 billion in losses and damages from United States sanctions for the period from March 2025 to February 2026, Responsible Statecraft reported.

For more world news, see Watan News World coverage.

FAKTA

• What happened: The UN General Assembly voted on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, for the 34th time on a resolution calling for an end to the United States embargo on Cuba.
• Tally, as reported by Responsible Statecraft: 130 in favour, 25 abstentions, 17 against, including the United States and Israel.
• Comparison: Last year’s vote was 165 in favour, seven against and 12 abstentions.
• Status: The resolution is non-binding; only the United States Congress can lift the embargo.
• Context: The General Assembly has adopted the annual resolution by large majorities every year since 1992, and the embargo has been in place for more than six decades.