The United Nations General Assembly voted by a large margin on Wednesday to denounce the decades-old American embargo against Cuba for the 32nd time since 1992, with only Israel (and the United States) opposing the resolution, and Moldova abstaining, the AP reported.
While General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, the annual vote gave Havana a stage to slam Washington’s 64-year-old embargo on the Caribbean island nation.
The embargo on the Republic of Cuba was enacted in 1960 following the revolution led by Fidel Castro. Two years later, then President John F. Kennedy extended it to include virtually all exports to the country.
In 2016, then-President Barack Obama restored relations with Havana and abstained on the UNGA resolution calling for an end to the embargo for the first time. However, Donald Trump sharply rebuked Cuba’s human rights record, and since 2017, Washington has opposed the resolution.
Communist-run Cuba has been a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause and broke off its diplomatic ties with Israel in 1973. Following the Hamas-led terrorist slaughter of Oct. 7, 2023, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel participated in a protest in front of the U.S. embassy in Havana, demanding an end to the war against the Palestinian terrorist group.
In late 2023, Díaz-Canel visited Iran for meetings with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, marking the first time in 22 years that a Cuban leader traveled to Tehran since Fidel Castro’s official visit in May 2001.
Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Sattar Hashemi is set to visit Havana next week for talks with senior Cuban officials and to sign a deal regarding postal cooperation, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported on Thursday.
Hashemi is also scheduled to visit a technology fair in Havana, which will be held with the participation of companies from more than 50 countries, including the Islamic Republic, according to Mehr News.
