World Support for Cuba Ahead of UN Vote Against US Blockade

After more than half a century since the imposition of the U.S. blockade on Cuba and ahead of the 25th U.N. motion on the blockade next week, a key Cuban government official slammed Wednesday the "countless effects" of the policy not just on Cuba but also third countries.

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The blockade "remains, is still strong and continues to considerably affect our country," said Elio Savon, Cuban ambassador to Zimbabwe.

Countries will meet at the U.N. once again to vote on the proposal to end the blockade on Oct. 26. Last year the U.N. General Assembly voted 191-2 to condemn the U.S. blockade of Cuba, with only the U.S. and Israel opposed to the move.

Cuba has presented the motion against the blockade on the island for the past 25 years. 

According to Savon, one of the many examples of the impact of the blockade is that Zimbabwe, as well as other nations with Cuban embassies, cannot transfer money to Cuba.

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French President Francois Hollande also said Wednesday the blockade against Cuba should end and criticized the policy for making no sense. The State Duma, Russia’s lower house, also approved a resolution Wednesday rejecting the economic, commercial and financial blockade on Cuba by the U.S.

In December 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a normalization in relations after more than 50 years of hostilities. The two countries reopened their respective embassies in July 2015, but the blockade—which was imposed after the 1959 victory of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro which overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista, a U.S.-backed dictator—remains in effect.

Cuba presented a report this year that claims the U.S. blockade on the island nation has cost it US$4.7 billion over the last year and US$753.7 billion over the last six decades.