The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly for the 16th consecutive year in favor of lifting the 45-year-old U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. By a vote of 184 to 4, with one abstention, the 192-member assembly reiterated its “call upon all states to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures [such as those in the U.S. embargo] in conformity with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law.” The resolution again urged “states that have and continue to apply such laws and measures to take the necessary steps to repeal or invalidate them as soon as possible in accordance with their legal regime.” In a repeat of last year's vote, the United States, Israel, and the Pacific states of Palau and the Marshall Islands voted against the resolution, while Micronesia abstained. The vote came less than one week after U.S. President George W. Bush vowed the U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba would remain in place. “As long as the regime maintains its monopoly over the political and economic life of the Cuban people, the United States will keep the embargo in place,” he said.
