The General Assembly considers a US embargo on Cuba ahead of the 34th vote

Every year at this time, the assembly – in which each of the 193 UN Member States has one vote – takes up “the need to end the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba”.

And every year, whatever the political climate, this issue generates a lot of diplomatic tension. The debate usually lasts two days as countries and regional groups begin to explain their positions.

Record 33 votes

The assembly has called for an end to the embargo, first imposed in 1960, on 33 previous occasions.

Support has increased rapidly since the first vote in 1992, when 59 countries supported the resolution, three countries opposed it, 71 countries abstained and 46 countries did not vote.

The peak was 191 votes in favor in 2015, 2016 and 2017, during the thaw in relations under US President Barack Obama. The United States and Israel voted against in 2015 and 2017; in 2016, both abstained.

Some countries have changed positions as governments have changed, but many have maintained the same positions for decades. Canada, China and Russia have long voted in favor, while the United States, backed by Israel, annually votes against it.

A firming squeeze

This year’s debate comes as the Trump administration tightens the embargo – a move that has led to an energy crisis and possible humanitarian collapse, according to the UN Resident Coordinator in Cuba, Francisco Pichon.

World Health Organization (WHO) has also warned that lack of energy has a negative impact on health.

In May, senior UN officials reported that more than 100,000 surgical procedures had been postponed. Cuban authorities have repeatedly cited further damage to the health system, including delays in the vaccination program and patients with chronic diseases being unable to get a steady supply of medicines.

This year, President Donald Trump also raised the possibility of military intervention in Cuba.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and independent UN experts condemned the embargo and other unilateral US sanctions, warning that they threaten Cubans’ rights to health, life, food and development.

Tensions spread

The tension was visible in the courtroom on Tuesday when Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla interrupted US Ambassador Mike Waltz about an order in the middle of his statement.

The exchange escalated into a heated exchange between the two, leading to conflict President of the General Assembly to pause the session. The debate then resumed without further incident.

Waltz rejected the premise of the debate, arguing that the Cuban crisis was the government’s own fault, not the embargo’s.

“There is no blockade,” he said. If there were, he said, there would be no explanation for U.S. exports to Cuba – which he said totaled more than $876 million in the first eight months of 2026 – or shipments from Canada, Spain, Mexico, China, Russia, the European Union and UN agencies.

His country’s wealth did not disappear, he said, but “only” moved from ordinary people into the hands of the ruling elite.

Mr. Rodríguez will deliver his statement on Wednesday.

What is the content of the resolution?

As in previous years, the Cuban-drafted text reaffirms the sovereign equality of states and the principles of non-intervention and non-interference in their internal affairs, as well as freedom of international trade and navigation – all enshrined in various international legal instruments.

It also raised concerns about laws such as the Helms-Burton Act, passed by the United States on March 12, 1996, whose extraterritorial effects, according to the report, undermined the sovereignty of other states, the legitimate interests of peoples and entities under their jurisdiction and the freedom of trade and navigation.

The agreement calls on all countries to refrain from taking such measures and urges countries still implementing them to withdraw them.