(RepublicanJournal.org) – The United States has imposed a massive trade embargo on Cuba for over 60 years, which has cost the communist nation an estimated $130 billion over the decades. The United Nations (UN) recently voted to condemn the US — once again — for continuing to punish its Caribbean neighbor for the actions of President Fidel Castro back in the 1960s. The international organization wants America to lift the embargo for good.
The UN held its vote on Thursday, November 2. Of 193 members, 187 voted in support of Cuba, marking the 31st year in which the council’s majority has agreed with ending the long-standing sanctions. The US and Israel voted against the action, while Ukraine, Moldova, Somalia, and Venezuela withheld their opinions. General Assembly resolutions have no legal standing, acting more as a formality to determine the world’s opinions on pressing issues.
The Washington Office on Latin America states that most of Cuba’s trade partners in Europe and Latin America lifted their embargos within a decade of cutting off the island nation. Still, the US has insisted on continuing its punishment even though the countries have been at peace for decades. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said, according to the Associated Press, that the decision is “cruel,” “coercive,” and ultimately “a crime of genocide.” He claims the Land of the Free is trying to weaken its neighbor to the point where it might finally take out the country’s communist government.
The Council on Foreign Relations states that diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba have been rocky ever since Castro established trade deals with the Soviet Union in 1960. At the same time, he skyrocketed taxes on US imports and claimed all foreign assets in the country. All trade ended in 1962, and Cuba has been fighting ever since to reopen the channels. Hope for positive change appeared on the horizon in 2016, after Castro died, but Donald Trump, while president in 2017, reinstated all previous restrictions.
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