For the thirty-third consecutive year, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned the United States’ economic embargo on Cuba, a decades-old policy that continues to ignite fierce debate and international criticism. On Wednesday, October 29, 2025, as Hurricane Melissa battered the Cuban coastline, 165 countries voted in favor of a resolution calling for an end to the embargo, with only seven nations opposing and twelve abstaining. Though the vote is not legally binding, it stands as a powerful symbol of global opinion against Washington’s longstanding stance.
The annual resolution, introduced by Cuba and debated in the 193-member world body, has become a familiar event on the UN calendar. Yet this year’s session was marked by both heightened geopolitical tension and the literal storm raging outside. According to the Associated Press, the vote softened the sense of American isolation compared to previous years, as countries such as Argentina, Ukraine, and Hungary joined the United States and a handful of others in opposition. Last year, only the U.S. and Israel voted against the measure, with one abstention.
Despite the shifting numbers, the core message from the majority of the world’s governments remained unchanged: the embargo, first imposed in 1960 after Fidel Castro’s revolution, is seen as an outdated relic that causes unnecessary suffering. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, speaking to The Associated Press on Monday, described the vote as a critical opportunity for the international community to send a message. “We cannot underestimate the importance, the impact, of the powerful message year after year by the General Assembly, which is the most democratic, representative body of the international community,” Rodríguez said. “It is not binding, but it is powerful.”
Rodríguez also accused the U.S. government of mounting a coordinated pressure campaign to sway the vote, particularly targeting European countries. He claimed that his government had received reports from other nations, especially in Europe, that Washington was actively encouraging them to vote against the resolution. “Doing so would be an act of justice in favor of a peace-loving people that is facing not only the blockade, but with the blockade, another monstrous hurricane,” Rodríguez argued, referencing Hurricane Melissa’s devastating impact on the island.
Washington, for its part, has consistently dismissed the annual UN vote as little more than political theater. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Mike Waltz, did not mince words during the General Assembly debate on Tuesday. “I would suggest that our member states stop appeasing the regime with their votes and instead use this vote to send the world a message,” Waltz said. He insisted that the Cuban government should not “blame all of its economic problems on the United States,” and described the event as a distraction from what he called the Cuban regime’s “corruption, incompetence, and brutal repression against the Cuban people.”
The debate was not without its moments of drama. When Waltz criticized the Cuban government in blunt terms, Rodríguez interjected, calling the remarks “uncivilized, crude and gross.” The exchange underscored the deep animosity that still characterizes U.S.-Cuban relations, despite brief periods of thaw in recent years. In 2016, then-President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro officially restored diplomatic relations, and for the first time, the U.S. abstained from the annual UN vote. However, Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, reversed course, sharply criticizing Cuba’s human rights record and strengthening sanctions. Those measures persisted under President Joe Biden and were further tightened after Trump returned to office in 2025.
The U.S. government objects to the description of its economic restrictions as a "blockade," preferring the term embargo. Nonetheless, the impact on Cuba has been profound. According to AP and other sources, Cuba’s government claims that U.S. sanctions cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025—a figure that represents a 49% increase over the previous year. Since 2020, the island nation has struggled with a severe economic and energy crisis, marked by shrinking GDP, widespread blackouts, food shortages, inflation, and mass protests. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have migrated, many seeking refuge in the United States.
Cuban officials attribute much of the hardship to the embargo, but they also cite the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global economic pressures. The government’s critics, including the U.S. State Department, contend that Havana uses the embargo as a convenient scapegoat to distract from its own policy failures.
The international community’s condemnation of the embargo was echoed by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, which welcomed the UN resolution and denounced the U.S. sanctions as “illegal and inhumane.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei argued that the measures “have targeted the fundamental rights of the Cuban people and the development of this country” for over six decades. He went further, declaring that the sanctions constitute a “crime against humanity” and that the United States should be held accountable for the damages inflicted on Cuba. Baghaei’s comments, reported by PressTV, reflect a broader sentiment among many nations that the embargo violates international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has found itself at odds not only over Cuba but also over its increasing military presence in the Caribbean. As AP reports, the Trump administration has ramped up its campaign against drug trafficking in the waters off South America, leading to speculation that the moves are also aimed at pressuring the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The military buildup has strained relations with some U.S. allies in the region and added a new layer of complexity to an already volatile situation.
The embargo itself has a long and tangled history. Imposed in 1960 after the Cuban government nationalized properties belonging to U.S. citizens and corporations, it has survived numerous changes in leadership and policy on both sides of the Florida Straits. While 80% of Cuba’s nearly 10 million residents have lived their entire lives under U.S. sanctions, efforts to lift the embargo have repeatedly stalled amid shifting political winds in Washington.
Despite the annual UN rebuke, the United States remains steadfast in its position. A State Department spokesperson told AP that “the Cuban regime does not deserve the backing of America’s democratic allies,” and accused Havana of using the UN resolution as a propaganda tool. Whether that argument will convince a growing chorus of international critics remains to be seen.
As Hurricane Melissa recedes and the world digests the latest UN vote, the people of Cuba continue to bear the brunt of a policy that, year after year, draws condemnation from most of the globe but shows little sign of changing. The debate over the embargo is far from settled—inside the halls of the United Nations or on the streets of Havana.
