UN votes 130-17 to condemn Cuba embargo, down from 160-plus

The UN General Assembly voted 130 to 17 on Oct. 28, 2026, with 25 abstentions, to call for an end to the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, a sharp drop in support from last year.

The resolution passed for the 34th time, but the Associated Press reported that more than 160 countries backed it in 2025, when only 12 abstained. Euronews reported the result is the lowest level of support since 1995.

The Associated Press, in a report carried by PBS NewsHour, said Germany, Italy and Latvia were among Western countries that refrained from voting for the first time in 34 years. Euronews reported the same. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and its own staff, said the 17 countries opposed included the United States and Israel.

Bosnia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Morocco and Slovenia were among those that voted no, many for the first time, according to both the AP and Euronews. The AP also listed Lithuania, North Macedonia and Paraguay.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the shift showed Washington’s campaign was working. “I’m satisfied that so many countries now, including major economies like Korea, like Germany and others have shifted their position,” Waltz told reporters after the vote, according to Al Jazeera. “Diplomacy takes time, but now that we’ve had a tripling of countries that have shifted, we expect that to only continue to grow.”

Before the vote, Waltz told member states that their vote was “the only thing standing between the corrupt, kleptocratic communist regime” and a propaganda victory, the AP reported. He denied that Cuba was under a blockade, Euronews said.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a social media post after the vote that the United States was “once again isolated in its attempt to continue strangling the Cuban people,” Al Jazeera reported. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on X that the world had spoken out against the embargo “even despite the most blatant pressure and blackmail from the US,” Euronews reported. Cuban officials have accused Washington of threatening countries with tariffs and visa restrictions over their votes. Al Jazeera said it contacted both missions about the allegations and received no response.

The vote followed a tense debate on Oct. 27. The AP reported that Waltz and Rodriguez shouted at each other on the floor, and that Waltz said a member of Cuba’s delegation had attacked an American diplomat who was filming him. The State Department told the AP the Cuban official had left the United States. Al Jazeera reported that Waltz named him as Richard Tur de la Concepcion, a first secretary at Cuba’s UN mission, and said he would be expelled. The AP also noted that U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs in January on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.

General Assembly resolutions are not binding. The UN has said it opened the annual debate on Oct. 27 and scheduled the vote for Oct. 28, according to UN News.

For Canadians, the vote matters because Cuba is one of the country’s biggest sun-destination markets and Canadian companies hold investments there. Sunwing and WestJet Vacations suspended their Cuba operations indefinitely in June. Canada voted yes last year, as Canada News Media reported before the vote. The reports reviewed for this story did not say how Canada voted this year, and Global Affairs Canada had not been reached for comment.

Canada News Media previewed the vote on Oct. 27. Travellers can check current conditions on the Government of Canada’s travel.gc.ca advisory for Cuba.

The General Assembly has voted to condemn the embargo almost every year since 1992. Whether the 2026 drop is a one-year dip or a lasting shift will be clearer when the resolution returns in the fall of 2027.

Via Al Jazeera, the Associated Press (PBS NewsHour) and Euronews.

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