Cuba to present UN resolution demanding end to US embargo

Cuba will present a resolution to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and Wednesday demanding an end to the decades-long US economic embargo, Cuban radio station Radio Angulo reported Monday.

“They are trying to change historical positions at gunpoint,” Cuban UN Ambassador Ernesto Soberon said, accusing Washington of pressuring countries ahead of the vote, Radio Angulo reported.

The annual vote will mark the 34th time Havana has brought the resolution before the UN General Assembly since 1992.

The diplomat said the US State Department, its UN mission and American embassies around the world had launched efforts to weaken traditional support for the Cuban resolution.

Soberon said the vote comes amid increased US pressure on Cuba, including energy restrictions and sanctions targeting third countries.

He also cited prolonged power outages and difficulties accessing medicines, food and drinking water as consequences of the embargo.

The resolution, titled “Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade Imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” calls for the removal of US restrictions on the island.

The resolution is nonbinding, meaning the UN General Assembly cannot compel Washington to lift the embargo, which remains under US jurisdiction.

The United States has maintained the embargo against Cuba for more than six decades. It was formally established in February 1962 under then-President John F. Kennedy.

The resolution received 165 votes in favor, seven against and 12 abstentions at last year’s UN General Assembly session, according to official figures.

The latest vote comes as Cuba faces a severe economic crisis marked by fuel shortages, power outages and difficulties accessing essential goods.

ANEWS wp:paragraph