UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn US economic embargo on Cuba for 31st year and urge its lifting

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for a 31st year after its foreign minister urged, “Let Cuba live without the blockade!” The vote on the resolution in the 193-member General Assembly tied the record for support for the Caribbean island nation: The vote was 187 in favor, with the United States and Israel opposed, and Ukraine abstaining. He said the U.S. embargo has imposed “the most cruel and long-lasting unilateral coercive measures that have ever been applied against any country” and that it constitutes “a crime of genocide” and an “ act of economic warfare during times of peace.” The American aim, Rodriguez said, is to weaken Cuba’s economic life, leave its people hungry and desperate, and overthrow the government. Rodriguez said no other people have faced “such systematic and long-lasting hostility from a superpower, but Cuba will continue to renew itself, and to build a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable nation.” U.S. deputy ambassador Paul Folmsbee told the assembly after the vote that the United States stands by its sanctions, which are “one set of tools in our broader effort toward Cuba to advance democracy and promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” He said approximately 1,000 political prisoners remain behind bars in Cuba, more than at any point in its recent history. “We share the Cuban people’s dream of democracy in Cuba and join international partners in calling for the Cuban government to immediately release all those unjustly detained,” Folmsbee said.