UN General Assembly weighs Cuba embargo resolution ahead of 34th vote

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UN debates Cuba embargo vote

Highlights

Cuba's annual UN resolution opposing the U.S. embargo faces its 34th vote, with rising historical support and persistent U.S.-Israel opposition.
The embargo's tightening under the Trump administration has caused an energy crisis, postponed over 100,000 surgeries, and disrupted vaccination and medicine supplies in Cuba.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz claims Cuba's crisis is self-inflicted and notes U.S. exports to Cuba surpassed $876 million in the first eight months of 2026.

Debate and vote at the United Nations

As reported by UN News, the General Assembly opens its annual debate on the U.S. economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba on Tuesday, with member states set to vote on Wednesday, 28 October, on a resolution calling for it to end.

The 193-member assembly has approved similar calls 33 times before, with support rising sharply from 59 votes in favour in 1992 to a peak of 191 in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The United States, usually joined by Israel, has opposed the resolution in nearly every vote, while countries including Canada, China and Russia have long backed it.

As in previous years, the Cuban-drafted text reaffirms sovereign equality, non-intervention and freedom of international trade and navigation. It also raises concerns over the U.S. Helms-Burton Act, saying its extraterritorial effects undermine the sovereignty of other states and legitimate commercial interests.

Humanitarian strain and diplomatic tensions

This year's debate is taking place as the Trump administration tightens the embargo, a move that the UN Resident Coordinator in Cuba, Francisco Pichon, says has contributed to an energy crisis and possible humanitarian collapse. The World Health Organization has also warned that power shortages are hurting health services, while senior UN officials said in May that more than 100,000 surgical procedures had been postponed.

Cuban authorities say the pressure is also delaying vaccination programmes and disrupting medicine supplies for patients with chronic illnesses. Successive UN human rights officials and independent experts have condemned the embargo and other unilateral U.S. sanctions, warning that they threaten rights to health, life, food and development.

Tensions are also visible inside the chamber on Tuesday, when Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla interrupts U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz during his statement, triggering a heated exchange that briefly suspends the session. Waltz rejects the premise of the debate, saying Cuba's crisis stems from its own government rather than a blockade, and argues that U.S. exports to Cuba exceed $876 million in the first eight months of 2026.

In our earlier article on the UN-backed plan to move fertilizer through the Strait of Hormuz, we explained that the mechanism could start quickly once the U.S. and Iran reach an agreement, but talks were still stalled as key planting windows approached. We noted that prolonged disruption to Gulf fertilizer shipments risked tightening agricultural supplies and pushing up food and commodity prices, raising the threat of a near-term food security shock for vulnerable importing regions in Asia and Africa.

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