188 Nations Condemn US Embargo Against Cuba [View all]

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(Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly for the 22nd time to condemn the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba, whose foreign minister said the American policy in place since 1959 was barbaric and amounted to genocide.

There were 188 votes for the non-binding resolution, entitled "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," in the 193-nation General Assembly.

The only country that joined the United States in voting against the resolution was Israel.

Last year, there were the same number of votes for the resolution, though the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau voted with Israel and the United States against the resolution. This year, Palau abstained, along with fellow Pacific island nations Micronesia and Marshall Islands.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who said before taking office that he wanted to recast long-hostile U.S.-Cuba relations, has been a disappointment to the Cuban government, which hoped he would do more to dismantle the embargo.

"The human damages caused by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States are incalculable," Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez told the assembly.

"It provokes hardships and is a mass, flagrant and systematic violation of human rights," he said. "The fact that 53 years later the same policy still prevails is something extraordinary and barbaric."

He added that the economic damage to Cuba amounted to $1.126 trillion and that the embargo "has been classified as an act of genocide" under the Geneva Convention of 1948.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/29/us-cuba-un-idUSBRE99S10Q20131029