Nigeria and Others Call for End to US Blockade on Cuba

Nigeria and most other UN members have voted for an end to the US embargo on Cuba, which is hurting the country.

The resolution passed on Wednesday with 130 countries supporting it. This included many African countries. Morocco was the only African nation that voted for the blockade. PREMIUM TIMES previously reported on the strong historical and bilateral ties between Cuba and African states.

Seventeen countries opposed the resolution, including the US and Israel. Twenty-five countries abstained, including Germany and Italy, which had supported the proposal before.

This resolution has been introduced and approved every year since 1992. Last year, more than 160 countries backed it. Although it is not legally binding, the resolution shows how the world views the illegal US blockade of Cuba.

The resolution calls for lifting the economic, trade, and financial embargo against Cuba.

Earlier this year, the Donald Trump administration added more sanctions that stopped oil shipments to Cuba. It also placed tariffs on countries that sold oil to Cuba. This worsened Cuba’s humanitarian and economic crisis.

After Wednesday’s vote, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said that the US was “once again isolated in its attempt to continue strangling the Cuban people.”

“Neither its most insane pretexts nor its pressures nor media circus will prevail over the force of facts and truth,” he added.

The Cuban embassy in the US celebrated the votes for the resolution. In a post on X, it wrote, “Victory for Cuba at the UN. Washington was isolated once again. #CubaIsNotAThreat; the blockade is.”

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz praised the votes of countries that opposed the resolution or abstained. He told reporters after the vote that he was happy to see a change in some countries’ views on US actions against Cuba.

He said, “I’m satisfied that so many countries now, including major economies like Korea, Germany and others, have shifted their position.

“Diplomacy takes time, but now that we’ve had a tripling of countries that have shifted, we expect that only to continue to grow.”