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Cuba at UN calls US embargo 'cruel'
In a speech at the UN, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez described the US embargo as a 'cruel crime' and said the policy amounts to collective punishment of the Cuban people.
Cuba denounced the 'cruel' US embargo on the island during a debate at the United Nations General Assembly. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a speech at the UN on Tuesday that the US government is waging a multidimensional, unconventional war against Cuba that has lasted nearly 70 years and has become even more brutal in the last seven months, emphasizing that the blockade amounts to 'collective punishment' of the people.
Rodriguez stated that the damage caused by the embargo in the period March 2025-February 2026 increased by 7 percent compared to the same period the previous year, reaching a record $8 billion. He added that these figures do not include the 'extreme impact' of the fuel blockade the US imposed on Cuba in February.
Regional blocs from around the world expressed support for Cuba on Tuesday and condemned the US embargo. The UN General Assembly has each year since 1992 overwhelmingly adopted a non-binding resolution calling for an end to the US blockade on Cuba. Last October, 165 members voted in favor, down from 187 the previous year; seven opposed, and a dozen countries abstained. In a vote on Tuesday to determine whether the debate would be held, 136 voted in favor, nine against, and 30 abstained; traditional supporters such as Germany and Canada were among those abstaining.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said from the rostrum, 'There is no American embargo,' and added, 'The only embargo in Cuba is the guillotine that the regime holds over its own people.'
Referring to recent diplomatic contacts between Havana and Washington, Rodriguez emphasized that as long as US officials view Cuba as 'a defeated or conquered enemy, like colonial property,' no progress has been made and likely never will be made.
Some speakers criticized the US policy toward Cuba while also pointing to Havana's responsibilities. European Union Ambassador to the UN Stavros Lambrinidis said, 'The dire situation of the Cuban people is not solely due to the embargo.' He emphasized the need for Cuban authorities to carry out 'meaningful political and economic reforms,' including respect for human rights, and also condemned Havana's alignment with Moscow in Russia's war in Ukraine.
According to Al Jazeera correspondent Gabriel Elizondo reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, the heated debates at the UN clearly show the deep tensions between Havana and Washington.
Under the current blockade, Cuba is suffering greatly as the US prevents oil shipments to the island, leading to increasing power outages across the country. US President Donald Trump ordered a fuel blockade on Cuba in January as part of a pressure campaign aimed at ending six decades of communist rule. Since then, only one oil tanker from Russia has reached Cuban shores, leaving the country's aging Soviet-era power plants increasingly depleted of the critical fuel needed to generate electricity.
With food, drinking water, and medicine also increasingly scarce, the United Nations has issued a humanitarian emergency warning.
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