This archive report was first published on 8 November 2019.
On November 7, 2019, the UN General Assembly condemned the nearly 60-year-old US embargo on Cuba for the 28th year in a row, calling for an end to it by a vote of 187 to three.
Only Israel and Brazil voted with the US against the resolution, while two other US allies, Ukraine and Colombia, abstained.
The US embargo was first imposed on October 19, 1960, in response to Havana's nationalization of US-owned oil refineries, and extended in 1962.
During two days of debate, the General Assembly denounced the embargo as "anachronistic" and "inhumane".
US diplomatic relations with Cuba had improved in 2016, when the US abstained from the UN vote for the first time, but have since turned cold under President Donald Trump.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez accused the Trump administration of escalating aggression against Cuba, with the goal of economically asphyxiating the island and increasing the suffering of its people.
Havana claims the embargo has caused $138 billion in damage to the island's economy, in today's dollars.
US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft blamed the Cuban regime for abuses against its own people and regional instability.
