UN General Assembly backs end to US embargo on Cuba by 130 votes to 17, the weakest support in two decades

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday 28 October called for the 34th time for an end to the US economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba, but the resolution drew its weakest backing in two decades: 130 votes in favour, 17 against and 25 abstentions, according to UN News.

Last year the same text was adopted by 165 votes to seven, with 12 abstentions. The drop of 35 votes in favour came as Cuba struggles with a severe energy crisis, which UN News said has been made worse by a US fuel embargo, leaving daily life harder for people across the island.

A long record of votes

The annual tally has followed the swings in relations between Washington and Havana. When the Assembly first voted on the issue in 1992, 59 countries backed the resolution, three opposed it and 71 abstained. Support peaked at 191 votes in 2015 and 2017, during and just after the thaw under President Barack Obama. In 2016 the United States abstained for the first time.

The resolution, presented by Cuba, cites the UN Charter principles of sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs and freedom of trade and navigation. It names the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, whose extraterritorial reach affects companies and individuals in other countries, and urges states with similar laws to repeal them. It also says the tougher measures applied since 2017 have reversed the easing of 2015 and 2016.

Washington: “There is no blockade”

US Ambassador Mike Waltz rejected the premise of the debate, arguing that Cuba’s difficulties come from its own government. “There is no blockade,” he said, pointing to more than $876 million in US exports to the island in the first eight months of 2026, as well as shipments from Canada, Spain, Mexico, China, Russia, the European Union and UN agencies.

Mr. Waltz said the country’s wealth had not vanished but had “changed hands” from ordinary Cubans to a ruling elite, and accused the military-run business monopoly of hoarding resources. He told delegates that a vote against the resolution was “the only thing standing between the communist kleptocratic regime and another propagandistic victory at the expense of the Cuban people.”

Havana: the cost of the embargo

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla answered with an on-screen counter that, he said, showed what the embargo had cost since the debate opened on Tuesday: more than $22.9 million. He blamed the measures for straining the country’s health system, saying infant mortality had doubled, tens of thousands of surgeries had been delayed or cancelled, and cancer medicines could not get in. These figures are the Cuban government’s claims and were not independently verified in the UN report.

“Cuba is not a threat, the blockade is,” Mr. Rodríguez said.

Background

Our earlier report covered the opening exchange between the two delegations: UN General Assembly votes on US embargo against Cuba for the 34th time on 28 October, after a heated exchange between Waltz and Cuba’s foreign minister. The figures above are taken from the UN News report of the vote, published on 28 October 2026 (UN News).