191-2 UN vote condemning blockade; Cuba’s foreign minister calls U.S. ambassador ‘disrespectful’
As expected the General Assembly of the United Nations today (Nov. 1) voted 191-2 condemning the United States embargo (known as the blockade on the island) against Cuba. The only votes against were from the U.S. and Israel, which signaled a step back from last year’s abstention by the U.S. Israel, as usual, voted the same as the U.S. — having abstained last year too.
Under the Trump regime in Washington, the vote ‘against’ by the U.S. was expected. Noteworthy, though, is the fact that the U.S. seems isolated in the world when it comes to its dealings with the island nation. Israel, although voting against condemnation, is known to be pursuing business interests in Cuba.
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez condemned the “disrespectful sense of interfering statements,” offered by U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Rodriguez lashed out stating, of Haley and the U.S., that “she is reflecting the tenor of U.S. politics today.”
“She speaks on behalf of the leader and empire — an imperialist power behind the majority of those wars being waged today on our globe, which take the lives of innocent people,” he said.
Acknowledging that the U.S. is alone in the world, Ambassador Haley said, “The United States does not fear isolation in this chamber or anywhere else. Our principles are not up for a vote. We will stand for respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms that the member states of this body have pledged to protect, even if we have to stand alone.”
“Today, I say that Cuba will never agree to conditions or anything being imposed on this order,” Rodriguez said. “We remind the president and his ambassador that this focus … has never worked and neither will it ever work in the future. He will be one more president implementing a policy that means a return to the past.”
Rodriguez also had something to say in regards to the alleged sonic attacks used as one of the pretenses for the Trump regime’s back-stepping the Obama administration rapprochement with the Cuban government. “They lie when they talk of attacks or incidents.”
“Without possessing the slightest proof of their cause and origin,” he said, the United States has used the pretext to adopt “new political measures against Cuba which further tighten the blockade and affect bilateral relations as a whole.”
Before the vote, more than 20 speakers from all over the world supported the resolution and denounced the embargo.
