Cuba's Foreign Minister Accuses U.S. of Threatening Countries Ahead of UN Embargo Vote
HAVANA — Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez accused the United States on Wednesday, October 21, of threatening member states of the United Nations with sanctions should they side with Cuba in next week's annual UN vote on a resolution calling for an end to a US embargo on the island, Reuters reported. Tensions between the two nations are soaring ahead of the vote.
"The US State Department is exerting unprecedented pressure — at times in a personal and brazen manner by the secretary of state himself — to get UN member states to change their votes," Rodriguez told reporters at a press conference in Havana. He said US officials had threatened to deny visas and impose trade and economic sanctions on UN members that side with Cuba at the United Nations. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the allegations.
US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz earlier this week called on countries to vote against the resolution supporting Cuba, calling it "an excuse to justify (Cuba's) oppression, to justify the misery of the Cuban people." The UN vote to condemn the US embargo is expected to take place on October 27-28, officials said. The non-binding resolution has passed in favour of Cuba in the UN General Assembly by wide margins every year since 1992. The US has imposed a trade embargo on Cuba for more than 60 years; the vote can carry political weight, but only the US Congress can lift the Cold War-era embargo.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Cuba since January, imposing a fuel blockade on the island and stiff sanctions against a swath of Cuban officials and state entities, Reuters reported.
Related: US and Cuba Trade Barbs at UN Ahead of Annual Embargo Vote
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于纽约的联合国大会堂（资料图）。照片：Mojnsen，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons。The United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York (file photo). Photo: Mojnsen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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