Backing for UN call to end Cuba embargo falls to 20-year low

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday called for the 34th time for an end to the US economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba – but with the weakest backing for the resolution in two decades.The text passed by 130 votes in favour to 17 against, with 25 abstentions. Last year it was adopted by 165 votes to seven, with 12 abstentions.The vote came as Cuba struggles with a severe energy crisis exacerbated by a US fuel embargo following the rendition of Venezuela’s president to New York, that has made life harder for people across the island.Three decades of votesThe yearly tally has tracked the changing relationship between Washington and Havana. When the assembly first voted in 1992, 59 countries backed the resolution, three opposed it and 71 abstained.Support peaked at 191 votes in 2015 and 2017, during and just after the thaw under President Barack Obama. In 2016, the United States abstained for the first time.The resolution, presented by Cuba, cites the UN Charter principles of sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs and freedom of trade and navigation.It names the US 1996 Helms-Burton Act, whose extraterritorial reach affects companies and individuals in ...