U.N. General Assembly denounces US blockade of Cuba

The vote in favor of the resolution to condemn the blockade and ask for its reversal was higher than ever, with 187 votes in favor of the condemnation, 3 votes against (the United States, Israel and the tiny Pacific Ocean nation of Palau), and two abstentions (The Marshall Islands and Micronesia, also tiny Pacific states which, like Palau, are highly dependent on U.S. aid).

This means that every single country that has representation in the U.N. - there are 192 in all - voted against the United States on this matter. The "yes" vote on the anti-blockade resolution included two new countries compared to last year's vote: El Salvador, which elected a left-center government in March, and which had for many years previously been used by the CIA as a base for subversion against Cuba, and, interestingly, the U.S. supported government of Iraq. Every single one of the U.S.'s NATO allies voted to condemn the U.S. policy.

In the lead up to the vote, the Cuban delegation had provided General Assembly delegates with a detailed account of the ways in which the blockade had harmed ordinary Cuban people by forcing Cuba to pay higher prices for imported goods and by denying sick Cubans access to medicines and medical devices. Delegates from a number of other countries took the podium to denounce the U.S. policy.