On the eve of a pivotal United Nations General Assembly vote, tensions between Cuba and the United States have reached a fever pitch, with both sides trading accusations and mounting diplomatic offensives. At the heart of the dispute is the annual resolution calling for an end to the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba—a policy that has been condemned by an overwhelming majority of UN member states for decades. Yet this year, the debate is further complicated by allegations of Cuban military involvement in the Ukraine conflict, and by claims of unprecedented U.S. pressure on other countries to alter their votes.
On October 22, 2025, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla convened a press conference in Havana, aiming to discredit what he described as a "slanderous and deceitful campaign" orchestrated by the U.S. Department of State. According to Reuters and BBC, Rodríguez Parrilla accused Washington of "intimidating and blackmailing" Latin American and European governments ahead of the UN vote scheduled for October 29. He presented what he called "threatening letters" sent by American diplomats, asserting, "It is not diplomacy, it is extortion. They want to distract the world from the crime of the blockade and create excuses to justify their hostile policy against Cuba."
Rodríguez Parrilla also categorically denied recent accusations that Cuban mercenaries have been dispatched to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. "Up to 20,000 Cuban citizens have been recruited, they say. Everyone knows that's a lie," he stated, referencing both a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable and statements from the Ukrainian government. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, through its "I Want to Live" humanitarian project, had recently claimed that thousands of Cubans were fighting for Russia, with figures ranging from over 1,000 to more than 5,000 according to Ukrainian intelligence. Evidence cited by Kyiv includes contracts, lists of names, testimonies from Cuban prisoners of war, and appeals from relatives searching for missing loved ones.
International media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, BBC, and CiberCuba, have corroborated reports of regular flights from Moscow to Varadero and described the operation of networks of Cuban and Russian intermediaries since 2023. Further complicating matters, the 2025 U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report classified the recruitment of Cubans for combat as a form of state-sponsored trafficking, likening it to Cuba’s controversial overseas medical missions. The report alleges that the Cuban government actively facilitated the departure of its citizens for "military exploitation purposes," expediting passports and omitting immigration stamps.
Despite mounting evidence and international scrutiny, Rodríguez Parrilla maintained that the allegations are part of a "toxic campaign" aimed at undermining Cuba’s support at the United Nations. He predicted, "The international community will not be deceived," and expressed confidence that "Cuba will triumph again in the General Assembly." However, diplomatic sources in Havana have noted an undercurrent of anxiety, as this year’s vote will be the first since 1992 to take place amid such significant and documented accusations of military complicity with Russia. Some observers suggest that the near-unanimous consensus in favor of Cuba’s resolution could be at risk.
Addressing the same issue on October 23, a statement released to the international community and the Cuban public reiterated these themes, accusing the U.S. of an "extraordinary, totally unusual, perhaps unprecedented deployment" of pressure tactics. The statement referenced a Reuters cable exposing the State Department’s strategy to coerce governments into changing their votes, including communications that allegedly contained "crude threats" against countries maintaining support for Cuba. "The U.S. government combines this policy of extreme pressure with a slanderous, mendacious campaign of misinformation, aimed not only at distorting Cuba's image, but also at generating pressure on third countries," the statement read.
Two U.S. government documents, circulated on October 8 and October 17, were singled out for their "harsh statements" and "direct threats." These documents accused Cuba of wielding the UN debate as a weapon and claimed, "There is no blockade against Cuba." The Cuban statement dismissed these assertions as "truly shameless" and cited U.S. laws—such as the Helms-Burton and Torricelli Acts—as evidence of ongoing restrictions. The documents also warned that supporting Cuba would mean "undermining the democratic allies of the United States in the Western Hemisphere" and threatened repercussions for countries that did not comply with U.S. wishes.
Rodríguez Parrilla and other Cuban officials have repeatedly argued that the embargo is the principal cause of Cuba’s economic hardships. "The blockade is the main cause of our economic problems and the main obstacle to our development," the foreign minister insisted, expressing a willingness to debate the issue with international experts. Yet official trade data paints a more nuanced picture: in 2024 alone, Cuba imported over $370 million in food and agricultural products from the United States, as well as consumer goods and medical equipment from Europe and Canada. According to BBC and Reuters, many analysts believe that internal inefficiency and government-imposed restrictions play a larger role in limiting Cuba’s foreign trade than external sanctions.
The geopolitical backdrop to this year’s debate is particularly fraught. The U.S. Southern Command has stepped up military maneuvers in the Caribbean, working with the Dominican Republic and Barbados to counter drug trafficking, while simultaneously increasing pressure on Venezuela and Nicaragua—Cuba’s closest regional allies. In this context, Cuba’s alignment with the Moscow–Caracas–Managua axis has become more pronounced, especially as the island remains dependent on Venezuelan oil and Russian financial support. The reduction in crude shipments and a deepening internal energy crisis—blamed by Cuban authorities on the embargo—have further eroded Havana’s narrative of resilience.
Cuban officials have also highlighted the humanitarian impact of the embargo, pointing to blackouts and the fragility of the national electrical system as direct consequences of U.S. efforts to block fuel supplies and international corporations’ refusal to provide spare parts. "They are trying to prevent our people from continuing to denounce that behind the blackouts and the fragility of our national electrical system is the U.S. persecution of fuel supplies," the October 23 statement declared.
As the October 29 vote approaches, both sides are intensifying their efforts to sway the international community. The United States, according to Cuban officials and multiple independent reports, has linked countries’ votes on the embargo to issues ranging from trade tariffs to visa sanctions, in what Havana describes as a campaign of "gunboat diplomacy." Meanwhile, Cuba is seeking to rally its traditional supporters and reassert its narrative of victimhood and resistance, even as its credibility is tested by the Ukraine controversy and mounting evidence of state-sponsored trafficking.
For the first time in decades, the outcome of the UN vote appears less certain. As diplomats gather in New York, the world will be watching not only to see whether the embargo resolution passes once again with overwhelming support, but also to gauge how much the swirling allegations and shifting alliances have altered the diplomatic landscape for Cuba and its adversaries.