Date: October 30, 2025
The UN General Assembly has once again voted overwhelmingly to condemn the decades-long United States embargo against Cuba, marking the 33rd consecutive year of global calls to lift the sanctions under the UN Cuba Embargo resolution.
An overwhelming majority of the UN’s 193 Member States urged Washington to end the embargo, despite a noticeable shift in the voting pattern, with more countries choosing to abstain or side with the U.S. on the UN Cuba Embargo issue.
The resolution, titled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” was adopted by 165 votes in favour, seven against, and twelve abstentions – reaffirming the global stance against the UN Cuba Embargo.
In contrast, the 2024 vote saw 187 nations in favour, only two against (the U.S. and Israel), and one abstention (Moldova). This year’s votes against the resolution came from the United States, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, North Macedonia, and Ukraine, underscoring the political divides surrounding the UN Cuba Embargo.
The twelve abstaining nations included Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Czechia, Ecuador, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, Moldova, and Romania.
Explaining its decision to abstain, Poland – also speaking on behalf of Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – said its stance reflected “the selective application of the UN Charter,” citing Cuba’s ongoing support for Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine, where Cuban nationals have reportedly been fighting on Moscow’s side.
Romania echoed this sentiment, noting that while it had long supported the resolution, “foreign involvement in an illegal war of aggression is a blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law,” urging Cuba to withdraw its support for Russia’s invasion.
Although the UN Cuba Embargo resolution is non-binding, its repeated passage underscores the international community’s growing opposition to unilateral coercive measures with extraterritorial implications.
The text reiterates the Assembly’s long-standing demand for all States to reject punitive U.S. legislation such as the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 – laws that Cuba and several countries argue contravene international law and the UN Charter.
The Assembly also recalled the reforms introduced by U.S. President Barack Obama between 2015 and 2016, which eased parts of the UN Cuba Embargo, contrasting them with the subsequent reversal of policies under the first Donald Trump administration beginning in 2017.
By adopting the resolution once again, the UN General Assembly decided to include the UN Cuba Embargo text in the provisional agenda of its next annual session, signaling that the global debate over the embargo is far from over. Visit http://gmtnewsng.com for more news.
