U.N. to U.S.: Drop the embargo against Cuba

184 of the 192 members of the U.N. General Assembly voted Tuesday to end the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. Though the proposal was non-binding, yesterday’s vote marked the 16^th consecutive year that the global body called for the U.S. to drop the embargo.

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque did not mince words when denouncing the embargo yesterday:

The blockade "has never been applied with as much ferocity as in the past year," he said, noting that Washington even barred US companies from providing Internet services to Cuba and was denying Cuban children access to needed medication.

And he later told AFP that the vote was "the expression of the virtual universal rejection of the policy of blockade and aggression which Bush, like no other US president, has applied toward Cuba."

Aside for the issue of Cuba, the resolution also called for countries to “repeal or invalidate” measures similar to the U.S. embargo on the island.

The U.N.’s vote came nearly a week after a speech by U.S. President George W. Bush denounced the Castro regime and called for countries worldwide to back democratic change in Cuba.

Sources- Scotsman.com, Reuters, Xinhua, AFP, The Latin Americanist

Image- RTE News