Cuba Accuses US of Pressuring UN Members Ahead of Embargo Vote

Cuba has accused the United States of threatening countries with tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures in an effort to change their votes on an upcoming United Nations resolution calling for an end to the economic embargo Washington has imposed on the island since the early 1960s.

As is customary, a majority of UN General Assembly members vote each year in favor of the non-binding resolution. The embargo is considered the longest-running in modern history and is widely blamed for deepening Cuba's economic hardships.

Speaking on Wednesday, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the administration of US President Donald Trump is seeking to pressure General Assembly members into voting against the resolution this year. He said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz are personally leading the campaign, which he said has been underway for months.

"This is a new and dangerous way of conducting multilateral diplomacy," Rodriguez wrote on X. "It reflects the impotence of those who know they are wrong and have only force left to rely on."

According to the Cuban foreign minister, US officials have threatened to suspend cooperation programs, deny visas to government officials and their families, and even support opposition parties in upcoming elections if countries do not change their positions. He also accused Washington of urging some countries to abstain or stay away from the vote if they do not wish to vote against Cuba.

Al Jazeera said it contacted the US State Department and the US Mission to the UN for comment but had not received a response.

Mounting pressure on Cuba

The accusations come amid escalating tensions between the two countries ahead of the vote, expected on October 27 or 28.

The Trump administration has long argued that Cuba's government, not the embargo, is to blame for the country's economic troubles, and has called for regime change on the island.

Earlier this week, Ambassador Waltz accused Cuban diplomats of harassing and threatening attendees at a US-organized discussion on alleged human rights abuses in Cuba. Cuba's ambassador to the UN, Ernesto Soberon Guzman, and other representatives confronted Waltz as he left the event at UN headquarters in New York.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Waltz said the Cuban government "spreads a lie every year through its annual resolution." He said Cuba "uses one excuse after another to justify oppression and the plight of its people," and that the US Mission to the UN is "exposing those lies."

At a separate news conference the same day, Waltz also acknowledged that Washington is lobbying European countries to reconsider their support for the resolution. He cited Ukrainian allegations that Cuban citizens fighting for Russia are not paid, with the money instead going to the Cuban government.

"Yes, we have asked many European colleagues: with evidence from the Ukrainian government, how can they continue to vote for a resolution that is a propaganda tool of the Cuban regime and directly affects their national security?" Waltz said.

Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has voted almost every year by an overwhelming majority in favor of resolutions calling for an end to the US economic embargo on Cuba, which has been in place for more than six decades.

Since the start of 2026, the Trump administration has stepped up pressure on Cuba by blocking oil supplies and threatening tariffs on countries that provide fuel to the island, leaving Cubans facing worse shortages of essential goods and prolonged power outages.