Overview
- The General Assembly adopted the non‑binding resolution condemning the U.S. embargo on Cuba by 130 votes to 17 with 25 abstentions, a result reached on Oct. 28 that marked the weakest backing in decades.
- Support fell sharply from last year’s 165‑7 vote, reflecting a U.S. diplomatic push that persuaded several countries, including some Western states, to abstain or oppose the measure.
- U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz led the lobbying effort and said the shift shows diplomatic progress; Cuban officials accused Washington of using economic and energy restrictions they called a fuel blockade that deepened humanitarian hardship.
- Tensions erupted publicly at the U.N., with heated exchanges between Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and Ambassador Waltz and a U.S. announcement that a Cuban first secretary would be expelled for allegedly assaulting an American diplomat.
- The resolution carries political weight but no legal force, and only the U.S. Congress can lift the decades‑old embargo, so the vote mainly signals changing international opinion and heightening bilateral confrontation.