UN votes 130-17 to end US Cuba embargo; only Morocco backs US among African nations
The UN General Assembly voted 130 to 17 on Wednesday to demand an end to the US economic embargo on Cuba, with 25 countries abstaining. This annual resolution has passed every year since 1992 but remains non-binding. The US and Israel opposed it, while Germany and Italy—previous supporters—abstained this time.
Among African nations, only Morocco voted with the US. The rest of the continent backed Cuba, reflecting decades of historical ties dating to Cuba's support for African liberation movements. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the vote shows the US "once again isolated in its attempt to continue strangling the Cuban people." US Ambassador Mike Waltz countered he was "satisfied" seeing major economies like Germany and South Korea shift position.
Trump-era sanctions that cut oil shipments to Cuba and penalized third-country suppliers worsened the island's humanitarian crisis. The embargo restricts trade, finance, and travel, contributing to shortages of medicine, food, and fuel.
For African diplomats, the vote reinforces a pattern: the continent largely votes as a bloc on issues tied to anti-colonial solidarity. Nigeria has consistently supported the Cuba resolution. As global alliances shift—with some traditional US allies abstaining—African voting cohesion on this issue remains notable.
Does Africa's unified stance on Cuba reflect genuine solidarity, or is it a reflexive alignment that costs little diplomatically while bigger interests go unaddressed?