US Urges UN to Vote Down Cuba Embargo Text

Cuba · United Nations

Published Tuesday, 27 October, 3:15 p.m. ET (3:15 p.m. Havana) · Source: UN General Assembly debate, US Mission to the UN, Cuban Foreign Ministry

The United States asked the world on Tuesday to stop backing Cuba at the United Nations, and Havana answered that Washington is the one leaning on its neighbours. At the UN General Assembly in New York, US ambassador Mike Waltz urged the 193 member states to vote down Cuba’s yearly resolution against the American trade embargo.

The debate runs Tuesday and Wednesday, 27 and 28 October, and ends in a vote on a text that has passed in every vote since 1992. It is the newest chapter in the Cuba US tensions that have built up this month.

Washington Tells Governments to Vote No

Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN and a former White House national security adviser, asked states not to lend their votes to what he called the mistreatment of the Cuban people. He argued that the resolution helps the Cuban government explain away hardship it has caused at home.

He also rejected the word “blockade”. “There is no blockade,” he said. “A blockade is a ring of military ships around an island.”

Havana Says the Pressure Is Coming From the US

Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, has accused Washington of threatening countries over how they vote. Waltz has said the US asked many governments to reconsider their votes, and he casts Havana as the side making threats.

Cuba presents the text for the 34th time. Havana claims the embargo has cost it more than US$178.7 billion over six decades, a Cuban government estimate that we have not verified independently.

How Many Countries Still Side With Cuba?

On 29 October 2025 the Assembly backed the text by 165 votes to 7, with 12 abstentions, for the 33rd year in a row. Argentina, Hungary, Israel, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Ukraine and the United States voted no.

Support for the text has been wider in other years, and the United States and Israel abstained once, in 2016, during the thaw under President Barack Obama. In July 2026 the Assembly voted 136 to 9, with 30 abstentions, to resume this debate over US objections, a sign of how the camps stand before this week’s vote.

What It Means for US Readers

The vote will not change American law, because the embargo is written into US legislation and only Congress can undo it. It does measure how much goodwill Washington keeps among Latin American and Caribbean governments while it tightens pressure on Havana.

Watch the tally against last year’s 165. Our reading: fewer yes votes would suggest US lobbying is working, while more would suggest it is not. Our coverage of Cuba news will carry the result.

What Is Not Known

The exact hour of Wednesday’s vote has not been announced. The result, and how many countries will change sides from last year, are not yet known.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the UN resolution on Cuba do?

It asks the United States to end its embargo on Cuba, but it is not legally binding. Only the US Congress can lift the embargo.

When is the UN vote on the Cuba embargo?

The General Assembly debates the text on 27 and 28 October 2026. The exact time of the vote has not been announced.

Sources: UN General Assembly press summary, July 2026; UN Geneva, October 2025 vote; US State Department; Cuban Foreign Ministry.

This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief