Nigeria, others vote at UN to end US embargo on Cuba

Nigeria and most other UN members have voted for an end to the US embargo on Cuba, in a resolution passed on Wednesday at the UN General Assembly, Premium Times reports.

The resolution passed with 130 countries in favour, including a majority of African countries. Seventeen countries voted against, including the US and Israel, and 25 abstained. Germany and Italy, which had previously voted in favour, were among those that abstained. Morocco was the only African country to vote against.

The resolution has been put forward and approved every year since 1992. More than 160 countries backed it last year. It is not legally binding, and it calls for lifting the economic, trade and financial embargo against Cuba.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration added sanctions that cut off oil shipments to Cuba and imposed tariffs on countries that sell oil to it, worsening Cuba’s humanitarian and economic crisis.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the vote left the US “once again isolated in its attempt to continue strangling the Cuban people.” He added: “Neither its most insane pretexts nor its pressures nor media circus will prevail over the force of facts and truth.”

The Cuban embassy in the US wrote on X: “Victory for Cuba at the UN. Washington was isolated once again. #CubaIsNotAThreat; the blockade is.”

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz welcomed the votes of states that opposed or abstained. “I’m satisfied that so many countries now, including major economies like Korea, Germany and others, have shifted their position,” he said.