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'Two Genocidaires v. the World': US, Israel Oppose Lifting Cuba Blockade
"The world has spoken—it's time for the U.S. to listen and lift the blockade."

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday once again overwhelmingly urged the U.S. government to end its decadeslong blockade on Cuba, with just the United States and Israel voting against the measure and Moldova abstaining.

 

BY Jessica Corbett

 

'The UNGA's other 187 members present voted to adopt the nonbinding resolution on "the necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States" against the Caribbean island.

This is the 32nd straight year that the U.N. body has approved a resolution against the embargo that began in 1962.

"The U.S. and Israel stand isolated as the only two votes against," Democratic Socialists of America's International Committee said after the Wednesday vote. "The world has spoken—it's time for the U.S. to listen and lift the blockade."

Though a few other nations have opposed the resolution over the years, Michael Galant of Progressive International and the Center for Economic and Policy Research noted that this vote was "two genocidaires v. the world."

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its yearlong assault of the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 43,163 Palestinians and injured another 101,510, according to local officials in the Hamas-governed enclave. The U.S. Congress and Biden administration have given Israel billions of dollars in weapons and opposed U.N. cease-fire resolutions.

CodePink's Medea Benjamin responded to the Wednesday vote with a video shared on social media, saying that Israel "loves blockades, because it's doing its own blockade of Gaza," and "is dependent on the United States to carry out its genocide."

"Now this is not just some idle vote," she said of the approved resolution. "This blockade that the U.S. maintains is a form of economic warfare. It's no exaggeration to say that now, when there is an economic crisis in Cuba, the U.S. blockade, which keeps Cuba from using the financial markets, from having normal trade with countries all over the world, is actually leading to deaths, leading to people going hungry, leading to people lacking food and medicine that are essential for their lives."

"And that's why the United States must be condemned for this ongoing horrific, inhumane, and illegal blockade," Benjamin added.

Cuba's representative delivered similar remarks to the UNGA on Wednesday. As Reutersreported:

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said in a speech before the assembly that what is often referred to as the U.S. trade embargo is a "blockade" because the web of laws and regulations complicate financial transactions and the acquisition of goods and services not just from the United States but internationally.

"The blockade against Cuba is an economic, financial, and trade war which qualifies as genocide," said Rodriguez, charging the U.S. policies were deliberately aimed at promoting suffering among the Cuban people to force change in the government.

Some international observers praised the countries who did condemn the blockade. Middle East expert Assal Rad declared, "This is the real international community."

Manolo De Los Santos, a founder of the People's Forum and a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, said that "this overwhelming consensus is in contrast with the indifference of the United States, which continues to deny any responsibility for sanctions while tightening its stranglehold on Cuba."

 

Earlier this month, the People's Forum published a letter in The New York Times to U.S. President Joe Biden, warning that he has "exactly 90 days to reverse" former Republican President Donald Trump's "brutal policy on Cuba."

Biden was vice president a decade ago when then-President Barack Obama "opened a hopeful new chapter in U.S.-Cuba relations by taking the first steps toward normalization," the letter details. "People in both countries were optimistic that Cuba and the United States could become neighbors rather than Cold War enemies. However, Trump dismantled that policy, imposing pain and suffering on the Cuban people."

"Removing the state sponsors of terrorism designation would allow Cuba to engage in financial transactions and restore its electrical grid, as well as address shortages of food and medicine to alleviate the immense hardship faced by the Cuban people, who have endured over 62 years of economic strife under the embargo," the letter adds. "It's time to act. Let Cuba live!"

Biden faced similar pressure in August, when hundreds of legal experts and groups called on him "to comply with existing international law by ending the use of broad unilateral coercive measures" particularly in "cases such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela.

 

The U.N. vote comes as early voting is underway for the November 5 election in which Trump is facing Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris.

Neither campaign provided details on each candidate's position when contacted by Reuters earlier this week, though Morgan Finkelstein, national security spokesperson for Harris, said that the Democrat "stands with the people of Cuba as they fight for their rights after decades of repression and economic suffering at the hands of the communist regime" and "will stand up to all authoritarians—including the very leaders that Trump has praised and embraced."

https://www.commondreams.org/author/jessica-corbett

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

“It’s hard to do cartoons without joy…”

         Gus Leonisky

 

 

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsIidvJXFXw

sacked....

Argentine President Javier Milei has fired Foreign Affairs Minister Diana Mondino after she supported a resolution to lift the US embargo on Cuba at the UN General Assembly.

The move was announced by Milei’s office in a press statement. While the statement did not directly link Mondino’s dismissal with the UN vote, it was released shortly after it and included a lengthy description of the administration’s position on Cuba.

“Argentina is going through a period of profound changes… our diplomatic corps should reflect in each decision the values of freedom, sovereignty and individual rights that characterize Western democracies,” the statement read, adding that the country “is categorically opposed to the Cuban dictatorship” and “will remain firm in promoting a foreign policy that condemns” regimes such as this. Milei’s office also warned that it will conduct an audit of the Foreign Ministry’s staff in order to root out “promoters of agendas hostile to freedom.”

Mondino was one of Milei’s first confirmed cabinet members and his top ally during last year’s presidential campaign. She will be replaced with Gerardo Werthein, who had been the ambassador to the US.

Earlier on Wednesday, the UN once again called on Washington to end its decades-long sanctions regime on Cuba in a non-binding resolution. An overwhelming majority of 187 countries voted in favor of the move, while only the US and Israel voted against it, with Moldova abstaining.

Milei has repeatedly pledged to align his country’s policies with those of the US since taking office in December 2023. He has also distanced the country from Cuba, as well as Nicaragua and Venezuela, accusing their leaders of being “despicable dictators.” Under Milei, Argentina has formally rejected an invitation to become a member of the BRICS group of nations, in a U-turn from the policy of his predecessor, Alberto Fernandez.

Argentina, Latin America’s third largest economy, is in the grip of a severe economic crisis after decades of mounting debt and financial mismanagement. An estimated 55% of the country’s population lives below the poverty line, while inflation is among the highest in the world.

READ MORE: Argentina’s Milei accused of copying speech from hit TV show

The ‘shock therapy’ reforms announced by Milei when he took office and aimed at stabilizing the economy have so far been unsuccessful, as Argentina’s economy sank deeper into recession in the second quarter of this year, with GDP plunging by 1.7%, according to government data.

https://www.rt.com/news/606768-milei-foreign-minister-cuba-embargo/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

“It’s hard to do cartoons without trolleys…”

         Gus Leonisky