Cuba’s resounding victory in the United Nations—with 187 countries voting against the U.S. blockade, three countries for, and two abstentions—comes at a time when popular opinion is growing worldwide, and inside the United States, for an end to the genocidal policy.
The vote on Oct. 28 was the 18th referendum in as many years in the General Assembly. Each year, the majority of U.N. member states has supported Cuba against the blockade. Each year the vote has increased in Cuba’s favor. In 1992, when the question was first posed, 59 opposed the blockade, 3 favored it and 71 countries abstained.
In all 18 annual votes in the U.N., the number of countries voting in support of the U.S. blockade never reached five. In the General Assembly’s commentary session before the vote on Wednesday, representatives of countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America vociferously condemned the blockade.
Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s foreign minister, addressed the General Assembly before the vote. He began by detailing cases of Cuban children suffering from the blockade, when Cuba cannot import medical technology or certain medicines produced in the United States.
Characterizing current U.S. policy, he said, “Since the election of President Obama, there has been no change whatsoever in the implementation of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba. The blockade remains intact.
“Last September 11, the U.S. president seemed to be stuck in the past when he decided to extend the implementation of the blockade for another year, claiming it was ‘in the national interest of the U.S.’ and based on the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, applicable only to war situations and only enforced against Cuba.”
Who are the three countries that supported the U.S. blockade?
The United States, Israel and Palau.
The U.S. government’s vote against Cuba does not reflect the opinion of the people of the United States. Polls show a majority wishing to see the blockade end, as well as the right for Americans to travel to Cuba.
The Israeli government maintains its own genocidal blockade of the Palestinian people, and has historically carried out some of Washington’s dirty work in Latin America.
But one might ask, why Palau? What does a tiny Pacific island—population 20,000—have against Cuba? There is no history of conflicts between the two island nations. According to Google maps, Cuba is 9,195 miles away from Palau.
The clues lie in Palau’s relationship to the United States. After World War II, the U.S. imperialists gained territorial control of several island groups in Oceania, including Palau, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. Although it became formally independent in 1994, Palau in reality is a neo-colony. The U.S. military has full and free access to occupy the island, and Palau is completely dependent on U.S. funding through the “Compact of Free Association,” which just expired in September.
Negotiations are underway for an extension of the compact, another reason Palau undoubtedly voted to support the United States.
According to the website Cubadebate, Sandra Pierantozzi, Palau’s secretary of state, said that Palau is seeking $225 million for the next 15 years, but that Washington only agrees to $156 million.
About the blockade vote, she said, “… we have always voted with the U.S. in this and many other themes in the United States. We maintain a very close relationship called ‘free association,’ under the Compact of Free Association.”
U.S. pressure on the tiny island of Palau to vote against Cuba only highlights the political isolation of U.S. imperialism before world opinion.
For the people of the United States, active defiance and opposition to the blockade and travel ban assumes a greater importance, to make Cuba’s victorious vote in the U.N. a reality.
