Vol. 73/No. 44      November 16, 2009

For the first time every nation represented at the United Nations cast a vote. A record 187 countries voted in favor. The United States, Israel, and Palau voted against. Representatives of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia abstained.

Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríquez explained that while the administration of President Barack Obama has made some token change, the “economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba … remains intact.”

Rodríguez reviewed more than a half-dozen examples of how Cuba is prevented from purchasing vital medical equipment and drugs, including from foreign companies that have U.S. subsidiaries. The U.S. government sanctioned at least 56 countries, many with heavy fines, in recent months, Rodríguez said. Nearly 2,000 vessels that had called at Cuban ports between July 2008 and July 2009 were barred entry at U.S. ports for six months.

Responding to the claim by some that Cuba’s shortages result from the failure of socialism, Rodríguez said, “Thanks to our system, we have been able to resist for 50 years. And we have developed despite the blockade. If they are convinced that our system does not work, what do they need the blockade for?” He also pointed to the refusal of the U.S. government to allow the sale of construction materials to Cuba following the devastating hurricane season last year.

Washington broke diplomatic relations with Havana in January 1961, two years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. In February 1962 U.S. president John F. Kennedy imposed a total trade embargo. It was strengthened under the Clinton administration with the Helms-Burton Act, extending compliance with the embargo to other countries.

Each year since 1992, the Cuban delegation at the United Nations has introduced a resolution calling for an end to the embargo. That first year it received 59 votes in favor. Delegates voting against the resolution have never totaled more than four.

Cuba’s long record of internationalist foreign policy was reflected by the comments of many delegates. “It is remarkable that even as Cuba struggles with a recent unfortunate string of natural disasters and the impact of a global economic crisis, it continues to assist other nations in the developing world,” said Delano Bart, delegate from Saint Kitts and Nevis, on behalf of the Caribbean Community.

Bart pointed out that thousands of students from the Caribbean have studied at Cuban universities free of charge, thousands in the Caribbean have received free surgery and other medical procedures in Cuba, and thousands more have been treated by volunteer Cuban doctors serving in some of the most remote working-class communities throughout the region.

Baso Sangqu, South Africa’s representative to the United Nations, hailed Cuba’s heroic internationalist record in Africa. In addition to recognizing Cuba’s “outstanding work” in the areas of health care and education in developing countries around the world, he pointed to the important role Cuba has played “in support of the struggle for self-determination, freedom, and justice around the world.”

“South Africa continues to recognize Cuba’s contribution to our own freedom and democracy,” he said, pointing out that last year South Africans celebrated the 20th anniversary of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. That battle was a critical blow to the apartheid regime’s invasion of Angola, “which was a decisive turning point in the struggle against apartheid and opened the doors for the liberation of South Africa.”

Several delegates, including those from Nicaragua and Venezuela, called on Washington to release the Cuban Five. The five are prisoners in the United States who were framed up on “conspiracy” charges while monitoring counterrevolutionary organizations based in Florida planning violent attacks against Cuba.
 
 
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