US votes against UNGA draft resolution on Cuba embargo

United Nations, Nov 2 (IANS) The US has voted against a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) draft resolution that calls for the lifting of the US economic and trade embargo on Cuba.

The draft resolution was approved 191-2, with the US and Israel being the only countries that voted against it on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a hawkish speech to the General Assembly prior to the vote, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley blamed Havana for the embargo.

"For the 25th time in 26 years, the United States will vote against this resolution," Haley told the assembly.

She accused Havana of using the General Assembly vote every year "as a shiny object to distract the world's attention from the destruction it has inflicted on its own people and on others in the Western Hemisphere."

"As long as the Cuban people continue to be deprived of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, as long as the proceeds from trade with Cuba go to prop up the dictatorial regime responsible for denying those rights, the US does not fear isolation in this chamber (of the General Assembly) or anywhere else."

Haley said the General Assembly has no power to end the decades-old embargo. It is based in US law, which only the US Congress can change, she said. Haley scorned the General Assembly vote as "political theater" and a waste of time.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla fought back, saying the US blockade is "a flagrant, massive and systematic violation of the human rights of all Cubans" and qualifies as "an act of genocide."

"The human damage caused by the implementation of this policy are incalculable. There is not a single Cuban family or social service that has not suffered the deprivations and consequences resulting from the blockade," he told the assembly prior to the vote.

When explaining the "no" vote after the adoption of the resolution, Haley's deputy said that the Cuban government is to blame for the country's economic failure.

"Even if the US Congress lifted the embargo today, Cubans would not be able to realize their potential without significant political, economic, and social reforms by their own government," said Michele Sison.

"This resolution is a distraction from the real problems facing the Cuban people. Therefore, the US strongly opposes it."

The US abstained last year in a similar vote at the General Assembly. Haley explained that the about-face is because the election of Donald Trump as new President and herself as new UN ambassador.

"To those who are confused as to where the United States stands, let me be clear: as is their right under our constitution, the American people have spoken. They have chosen a new president, and he has chosen a new ambassador to the United Nations."

The Group of 77 (G77) of developing countries regretted the new policy of Trump aimed at strengthening the embargo against Cuba.