UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to condemn the U.S. embargo against Cuba for the 20th year in a row.
The final tally was 186-2, with only Israel joining the United States as it did last year. The small Pacific nations of Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained as they also did last year.
Last year’s tally for the symbolic measure was almost identical, 187-2, with three abstentions.
Envoys for Vietnam, Russia, Nicaragua and many other countries, as well as the 120-member Nonaligned Movement, spoke Tuesday in favor of the measure calling for the end of the American embargo against the Caribbean country.
“The only consequences of the sanctions are the deterioration of the living standard of the Cuban population, creation of artificial barriers to its economic growth and infringement on the rights and interests of third countries,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said that the sanctions have caused direct economic damages of close to $1 trillion to the Cuban people over nearly half a century.
The United States has not eased the embargo in the nearly three years since President Barack Obama’s election raised hopes for a change in policy, he added.
“Despite the false image
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