U.N. overwhelmingly condemns U.S. embargo on Cuba
UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. General Assembly voted on Tuesday for the 24th year in a row in favor of a resolution calling for the end of the 54-year United States embargo against Cuba. The vote was 191-2 with the U.S. and Israel the sole votes against it.
But what made this year different was that the Obama Administration considered the idea of not opposing the measure by abstaining, if Cuba had revised the language to reflect better relations.
Administration officials tried to persuade Cuba to change the wording of the United Nations resolution to highlight the improvement in U.S. and Cuba relations, but in the end, U.S. Ambassador Ronald Godard said that the text introduced by Cuba fell short of reflecting the spirit of engagement.
Obviously annoyed that the U.S. would vote against the resolution, Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez's tone was testy and highly critical of U.S. policy. But after the vote and a standing ovation of some member nations, Cuba's diplomats were all smiles, with a fist in the air.
For the U.S. opening diplomatic relations with Cuba was a legacy issue and President Obama has made clear that the embargo would eventually be lifted. But like 10 other presidents before him, he found that limited overtures have been met with defiance.
