Jamaica abstains from UN vote condemning US embargo against Cuba

Jamaica was among 25 countries that abstained from Wednesday’s United Nations General Assembly vote on a resolution condemning the United States’ economic embargo against Cuba, marking a shift in the country’s longstanding position on the issue.

The other countries that abstained included Germany, Italy and Latvia, which, along with several other Western countries, refrained from voting for the first time in the 34-year history of the annual resolution.

Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith announced Jamaica’s decision at Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, explaining that the Government had been reflecting on the matter for some time.

She said the decision represented a shift in policy, while emphasising that Jamaica remained concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Cuba and supported dialogue between Washington and Havana.

“We have been reflecting on this issue for some time, as it is a shift in policy,” Johnson Smith said.

She recalled that Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, addressing the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government meeting in St Kitts and Nevis in July, had expressed concern about the suffering of the Cuban people and the implications of the situation for the wider region.

According to the minister, Holness reaffirmed Jamaica’s solidarity with Cuba but called for dialogue between the United States and Cuba to promote stability and improve conditions for the Cuban people.

The prime minister also advocated reforms in Cuba and suggested that CARICOM could play a constructive role in facilitating engagement and cooperation, where possible.

Johnson Smith said she reiterated those positions last month while delivering Jamaica’s national statement at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In that address, she said: “The suffering of the Cuban people is of deep concern to Jamaica. We encourage domestic reform and greater integration of Cuba into the international economic system, supported by policies that create pathways for progress and eliminating the dire humanitarian crisis rather than perpetuating isolation under the blockade.”

On Wednesday morning, the US General Assembly voted 130 to 17 in favour of the resolution, with 25 abstentions, marking a significant decline in support compared with last year, when 165 countries supported the measure, seven voted against it and 12 abstained.

Although General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, they are widely regarded as an indicator of international opinion.

The vote came amid an intensifying campaign by US President Donald Trump’s administration to pressure the Cuban Government to change its political and economic system.

Washington has sought to persuade countries to oppose the resolution, arguing that the embargo is necessary to hold Cuba’s communist government accountable for corruption and alleged human rights abuses.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz urged member states to reject the resolution, describing support for it as an endorsement of the Cuban Government.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, meanwhile, denounced the US measures, arguing that the embargo was inflicting hardship on ordinary Cubans.

The tensions spilled into an extraordinary confrontation at the General Assembly on Tuesday, when Rodríguez interrupted Waltz during his address, accusing him of lying. Waltz responded angrily, prompting UN officials to intervene.

The diplomatic clash underscored the deepening tensions between the two countries as Cuba grapples with worsening economic difficulties, fuel shortages and widespread power outages.

The embargo was first imposed in 1960, following the Cuban Revolution and the nationalisation of property belonging to US citizens and corporations.

More recently, the Trump administration announced measures targeting countries supplying oil to Cuba, further restricting the island’s access to fuel and aggravating disruptions to electricity, water and telecommunications services.

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