In its annual vote, UN General Assembly rebuts US embargo of Cuba

Oct 28, 2009, 17:41 GMT

New York - The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to call on UN members not to support the decades-old United States economic embargo of Cuba.

In what has become an annual event, the 192-nation assembly voted 182-3, with two abstentions, to adopt yet another resolution calling on states to strike down the embargo.

The repeated UN demands over the years have failed to have any effect on Washington. Earlier this year, US President Barack Obama extended the embargo another year.

The United States ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, and the representatives from Israel and Palau voted against the resolution. The European Union members' representatives voted in favour.

Rice told the assembly that a 'new era' had started since Obama moved into the White House in January, noting the 'constructive' steps to improve relations, including talks on migration and postal services; the granting of wider permission for family visits and remittances; and increased US donations to and telecommunications with Cuba.

Rice said the steps had not been recognized by Havana, which has equated the US embargo to 'acts of genocide.'

'We are ready to engage with Cuba to address bilateral issues,' Rice said.

The US embargo, enacted by US Congress' Helms-Burton Act in 1996, asked governments around the world to promulgate domestic laws prohibiting trade links with Cuba. The act was a retaliation against Cuba's seizure of US properties in Cuba after Fidel Castro took over the island in the 1950s.

Many governments, including US allies like Canada and Mexico, rebuffed the Helms-Burton Act and set up diplomatic and trade ties with Cuba.

The resolution asked states that have domestically legislated the Helms-Burton Act to adopt laws to repeal or invalidate those legislation.

Mexico's UN Ambassador Claude Heller told the assembly that, for the 18th consecutive year, the Mexican government 'rejects the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba, and re-states its opposition to the use of coercive actions that are not supported by the UN Charter.'

The UN economic bloc of developing countries known as G77, currently headed by Sudan, called on the US 'to heed the increasing call by the international community to bring an end to the five-decades-old embargo and to fully adhere to the principles of mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of a sisterly countries.'