UN: US embargo on Cuba condemned by UN 191-2

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) approved a resolution condemning the US blockade of Cuba, with only the US and Israel voting against it, in New York, Tuesday. Out of 193 member states at the General Assembly, 191 voted in support of the resolution titled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba." Despite the US and Cuba "normalising" economic cooperation and re-establishing diplomatic relations, the US representative voted against the resolution. The Israeli authorities joined the United States in voting no. According to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, "any attempt to condition the lifting or modification of the blockade to the introduction of internal changes in Cuba will be in no way acceptable nor productive." The US senior adviser for Western Hemisphere‎ affairs Ronald Godard expressed regret that "the government of Cuba has chosen to proceed with its annual resolution." "The text falls short of reflecting the significant steps that have been taken and the spirit of engagement President Obama has championed," he said, adding that the United States "cannot support" it and if "Cuba thinks this exercise will help move things forward in the direction both governments have indicated they wish, it is mistaken." The US authorities imposed the trade blockade on Cuba in 1960, after Cuban revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista, a US-backed dictator.