UN General Assembly Agrees to Debate US Embargo on Cuba

The United Nations General Assembly has agreed to hold a debate on the prolonged US embargo against Cuba, despite Washington’s efforts to block the proposal. In a vote held on Tuesday, 136 countries supported the move, while 9 opposed it and 30 abstained. In a statement ahead of the vote, US Deputy Representative for Management and Reform Jeff Bartos urged delegates to reject the proposal put forward by Cuba. Cuba has been suffering under a US economic embargo for 66 years. Cuban authorities consider the sanctions to be the main cause of the country’s economic crisis. Havana continues to urge the US to fully lift the embargo. In early January, the US imposed an oil embargo on Cuba and threatened to impose import tariffs on any country that supplies oil to the island. Havana stated that Washington’s oil embargo is strangling the island’s economy and worsening the living conditions of its people. The US embargo has also exacerbated fuel shortages and had a major impact on the transport, food production, health, and education sectors.