UN condemns US embargo on Cuba with weakest support in 30 years

On October 28, 2026, the UN General Assembly voted 130-17, with 25 abstentions, to condemn the U.S. embargo on Cuba—marking the resolution's weakest support since 1995. A U.S. lobbying effort led major allies, including Germany and Italy, to abstain for the first time in decades, while Latin American nations like Colombia and Costa Rica voted against it. The vote follows tightened Trump administration sanctions, including energy restrictions that have caused widespread blackouts and severe humanitarian shortages in Cuba.

UN vote results on Cuba embargo

• ▪The 2025 United Nations General Assembly vote on the U.S. embargo on Cuba passed with 165 countries in favor, 7 against, and 12 abstentions
• ▪The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, representing the lowest support since 1995

Member states' votes on Cuba resolution

• ▪Latin American nations Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Paraguay, plus Bosnia, Lithuania, Morocco, North Macedonia, and Slovenia, joined 12 others voting against the UN resolution on the U.S. embargo on Cuba on October 28, 2026
• ▪Germany and Italy, for the first time in over 30 years, alongside Latvia, abstained from the UN General Assembly's 34th annual resolution condemning the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba on October 28, 2026

Reactions and diplomacy around UN vote

• ▪Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the U.S. of using gangster-like coercion, pressure, and blackmail to influence member states ahead of the October 28, 2026 UN vote on the Cuba embargo resolution
• ▪U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz stated after the October 28, 2026 vote that Washington's diplomatic efforts had tripled the number of countries shifting their positions on the UN resolution condemning the U.S. embargo on Cuba

Diplomatic confrontations between US and Cuba

• ▪The United States expelled Richard Tur de la Concepción, a first secretary at Cuba's UN mission, following an alleged altercation with an American diplomat at UN headquarters on October 27, 2026
• ▪U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla engaged in a shouting match

US energy sanctions and Cuba's fuel crisis

• ▪U.S. measures restricting oil supplies to Cuba since January 2026 have sharply reduced fuel imports and led to multi-day blackouts across the island, including in Havana
• ▪Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla characterized the U.S. energy blockade as an act of collective punishment and economic war against Cuba
• ▪U.S. President Donald Trump announced in January 2026 that the U.S. would impose tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba

Impact of energy crisis on Cuba

• ▪Cuba's ongoing energy and supply crisis has disrupted basic services across the island nation, including water distribution, internet, and telephone networks
• ▪Cuba's national electrical grid suffered a total collapse last month, plunging the island into darkness

History of the U.S. embargo

• ▪The U.S. economic embargo on Cuba was established after Fidel Castro's revolution overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista and nationalized property belonging to U.S. citizens and corporations
• ▪Only the U.S. Congress has the authority to legally lift the decades-long trade embargo on Cuba, which was first imposed in 1960 after Fidel Castro's revolution