Colombia was the only country in the region to abstain from voting to end the US embargo on Cuba.

This Wednesday, June 23, the General Assembly of Nations ruled by an overwhelming majority against the economic blockade of the United States against Cuba and called for an end to these unilateral coercive measures.

The resolution rejecting the embargo on Cuba obtained 184 votes for, two against (United States and Israel) and three abstentions (Colombia, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates).

Colombia’s position to be obtained was the only one in the region since other Latin American countries supported the resolution. On this subject, former president Ernesto Samper wrote: “In a shameful decision, the Colombian government has refrained, along with two other countries, from accompanying the 184 countries which have called on the UN to lift the inhumane economic blockade that the United States has maintained against Cuba for several years. One more contribution to the dark history of foreign policy “.

Resolution A / 75 / L.97 joins the 28 adopted each year since 1992, when the General Assembly began voting on the matter every year, with the sole exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, present at the vote, he affirmed that the blockade is a massive, flagrant and unacceptable violation of the human rights of the Cuban people.

It is, he said, a extraterritorial economic war against a small country, and asked what would happen to the economies of rich countries if they were subjected to similar conditions.

The United States explained its vote by arguing that the sanctions are aimed at promoting democracy and respect for human rights in Cuba.

It was the vote:

The representative of the United States said that, “Sanctions are one of the tools in a broader effort towards Cuba to promote democracy, promote respect for human rights”, and that they recognize the suffering of the Cuban people and for this reason, despite the embargo, they are one of Cuba’s main trading partners and allow billions of dollars in exports every year.

The text approved by the UN and endorsed by the majority of member countries, reiterates its “call on all states to refrain from adopting and enforcing laws and measures of the type indicated in the preamble to this resolution, in accordance with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law, which, inter alia, reaffirm the freedom of commerce and navigation “.

Likewise, it requests the Secretary-General, António Guterres, to, in consultation with the relevant organs and agencies of the United Nations system, prepare a report on the implementation of this resolution in the light of the objectives and principles of the Charter and international law and will present it to you at its seventy-sixth session.

Colombia and Cuba, strained relations

Regarding relations between the two countries, it is no secret that with the arrival of the government of Iván Duque and after the breakdown of peace talks with the ELN guerrillas who were advancing in Havana, he there was a diplomatic break after Colombia’s request to this country to extradite the guerrillas after the attack on the Santander General Police School in Bogotá, and the island refused.

Recently, on May 7, the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that an official of the Cuban Embassy accredited to Colombia was not welcome, after verifying that he was developing in the country. activities incompatible with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.

In accordance with the message sent by the entity for external relations, it will do for this purpose what is indicated in the procedure established in Article 9 of the said international instrument, which indicates:

“The receiving State may, at any time and without having to give reasons for its decision, inform the sending State that the head or another member of the diplomatic staff of the mission is persona non grata, or that any other member of the mission staff. The assignment is not acceptable ”, indicates the article.

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