The United States is urging governments to vote against Cuba’s UN embargo resolution, the measure Havana brings before the General Assembly every year to demand an end to the U.S. embargo. Juan Pablo Segura, the State Department’s assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, made the appeal Friday, October 16, ahead of a vote scheduled for October 28.
In a post on his official X account, Segura argued that supporting the resolution rewards a hostile regime that threatens the United States and the Western Hemisphere. He characterized Havana’s initiative as a political sham.
U.S. argues the UN embargo resolution delays reform
The statement, shared in Spanish and English, expanded on criticism Segura had voiced earlier in the week. He accused the Cuban regime of exporting Marxist subversion and carrying out high-level espionage against Americans over nearly seven decades. Those allegations form part of Washington’s argument against the resolution.
In an October 14 post, Segura said Cuba’s economy had survived on foreign assistance and argued that the disappearance of that support had exposed the communist regime’s failures. He also contended that Havana uses the annual UN vote to reassure itself that it does not need to change.
His position echoes the message Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in an October 13 phone call. According to State Department remarks covered by Cubanos por el Mundo, Rubio argued that international backing discourages Cuban reforms.
The annual UN vote on the U.S. embargo
Cuba has brought its resolution before the General Assembly every year since 1992, apart from the pandemic-related interruption in 2020. The measure calls for an end to the U.S. economic, commercial and financial embargo, imposed in 1962.
Havana blames the embargo for the country’s economic crisis. Washington and Cuban opposition groups instead point to the regime’s economic model and restrictions on political and economic freedoms.
In 2025, the General Assembly approved the resolution by 165 votes to 7, with 12 abstentions, according to UN News. It was the 33rd consecutive adoption of the measure. The United States, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, North Macedonia and Ukraine voted against it.
The 2025 result marked a sharp drop in support. A year earlier, the measure passed 187 to 2, with only the United States and Israel voting against and Moldova abstaining, the UN reported.
The General Assembly resolution is nonbinding. It cannot itself repeal U.S. sanctions. The embargo was codified in the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, and lifting it requires action by Congress.
Havana accuses Washington of pressuring other governments
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla responded on X on October 14 by accusing Rubio of pressuring and blackmailing foreign leaders to change their votes. He portrayed Washington’s effort as a response to the prospect of another defeat at the United Nations.
Cuba’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the vote will take place Wednesday, October 28. The outcome remains ahead; last year’s result does not determine how governments will vote this time.
Segura maintains that support for the resolution reinforces the regime’s arguments and postpones urgently needed political and economic reforms. His appeal is for governments to reject Havana’s initiative and support a free Cuba.
What is confirmed so far: the General Assembly vote on the UN embargo resolution is scheduled for October 28; Rubio and Segura are pressing governments to vote no; and Havana accuses Washington of coercion. Even if the resolution is adopted again, it will not lift the embargo, which only Congress can repeal.
For additional context, Cubanos por el Mundo has reported on 217 urgent-action requests over enforced disappearances in Cuba brought before the UN. That coverage is available in Spanish.
Adapted into American English from our original Spanish-language report.
