| UN General Assembly Calls for End to U.S. Economic Blockade Against Cuba Today, October 27 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted in a record vote of 191 in favour and two against, with no abstentions Cuba's resolution Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba. This is the twenty-fourth successive year in which the UN has adopted the resolution condemning the economic sanctions and other punitive measures imposed on the Republic of Cuba by the government of the United States. The U.S. policy has an extra-territorial character that inflicts severe penalties on entities conducting business with Cuba, and is recognized as a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and customary international law. Along with Israel, the U.S. was the lone voice against the resolution. The U.S. representative stated that the U.S. government "regrets" that Cuba proceeded with the resolution. In his speech to the General Assembly, Cuba's foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla pointed out many practical ways in which the U.S. president can reduce the effects of the blockade on Cuba, saying such steps are necessary for the process of normalizing relations between the two countries. |