As momentum against the United States oppression of 10 million Cubans continues to build and a United Nations General Assembly meeting to discuss it approaches, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led a campaign to influence the upcoming debate, which is intended to focus on Cuba’s sovereignty and international law. In a leaked “action request” cable obtained by Ken Klippenstein and shared with The Nation titled “Engaging UN member states on July 7 UN General Assembly open debate on Cuba,” the State Department instructed its ambassadors to convince their host nations to oppose the debate in an effort to shut it down.
The cable didn’t stop there. Rubio didn’t just want allies to “affirm our objection” to the General Assembly debate; it also covered what the U.S. wanted to occur should the debate take place. He demanded strongly aligned member states “to deliver remarks rebuking Cuba for its devotion to thoroughly discredited economic theory, gross incompetence and massive corruption.”
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For countries unaligned with the U.S. in its actions against Cuba, Rubio pressed them to “refrain from delivering any remarks.” For countries that support Cuba, Rubio made clear threats of repercussions, saying, “The United States will be listening very closely to their remarks at the debate and discouraging the use of points that might create friction in our bilateral relationships.” None of that seemed to have worked out for the United States.
When the UN held a discussion on whether to have a debate about the unilateral U.S. sanctions on Cuba, U.S. Ambassador Jeff Bartos opened the debate by claiming the Cuban government is a failure and an oppressive regime without once mentioning the brutal sanctions that are causing mass suffering. When Cuban representative Bruno Rodriguez called for a point of order due to the lies, Bartos attempted to ignore it until he was stopped. When Bartos was again allowed to speak, he continued to spread more widely debunked propaganda.
When Rodriguez demanded another point of order, Bartos yelled, “Keep banging away,” while refusing to cede. Again, Rodriguez highlighted how Bartos was lying and not rationalizing whether they should debate the embargo of Cuba. Bartos was again allowed to continue speaking under the guise of explaining why the debate shouldn’t occur. Yet, he never provided rational reasoning to prevent it. Bartos then urged countries to vote against the debate.
Only nine countries voted against a debate: Argentina, Costa Rica, Czechia, Israel, Morocco, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Ukraine, and the United States. Thirty countries abstained from voting, and 136 voted in favor of debating the economic embargo and military blockade of Cuba. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez thanked all of the nations that voted to bring the economic embargo of Cuba to a debate.
“On behalf of the people of Cuba, I thank the 136 nations of the world that voted in favor of bringing the Genocidal Blockade against an entire nation and the threats of military aggression to the debate of the UN General Assembly,” said Cuban President Diaz-Canel on X.
The debate opened with a statement from Rodriguez highlighting the aggressive actions by the U.S. against tankers and cargo ships delivering goods to Cuba, in addition to the decades of “unconventional warfare” that have only become “more cruel in the last seven months.” He then mentioned the buildup of U.S. military assets directed at Cuba and the constant additional sanctions that exacerbate the suffering on the island.
“The number of people dying from cancer in the country has increased significantly. Among children and young adults, the survival rate has fallen from 85% to 65%. This trend coincides with the most intense period of the U.S. embargo,” said Rodriguez. “The blockade suffocates and kills silently. Addressing this ruthless crime is also a responsibility of the United Nations.”
Rodriguez focused on the growing lack of access to basic resources for Cubans on the island as a result of U.S. actions, describing it as “collective punishment.” He continued to explain how the lack of access to fuel has also crippled Cuba’s water systems, created a spike in infant mortality, and led to a large increase in deaths of cancer patients. Rodriguez excoriated the U.S. for its complicity in genocide in Gaza, the extrajudicial murders of boaters in the Caribbean, the police targeting of Black people and Latinos in the U.S., and its prison industrial complex.
Later, the Uruguay Ambassador to the UN, Laura Dupuy Lasserre, spoke on behalf of the G77 + China, a coalition representing 80% of the world’s population. Lasserre highlights the negative impacts of U.S. sanctions across multiple sectors while also focusing on how much Cuba has assisted most of the world via shared medical advancements and medical assistance during some of the world’s worst crises. She emphasized that the Charter of the United Nations requires dialogue and diplomacy and calls for the lifting of the economic embargo of Cuba.
Other groups of nations that spoke up against the sanctions were the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations (19 countries), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (10 countries), the Caribbean Community (14 countries), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (57 countries), and the African Group (54 countries). The European Union (27 countries) also spoke up strongly against the sanctions, but the statement didn’t occur without some side-swiping and vilification of the Cuban government.
In a repeat of Bartos’ initial statement, Mike Waltz, the United States Ambassador to the UN, took to the floor and claimed there is no U.S. blockade. He told the Cuban government “to turn the lights on” as if the United States didn’t have an oil blockade on the island. After points of order by the Cuban delegation demanding decorum, Rodriguez called Watltz a “liar.” Waltz continued to perpetuate false narratives and glossed over the nearly seven decades of brutal U.S. sanctions. He then deviated from any rationalization for the brutal economic embargo, as is typical for the U.S., and focused on hyperbolic militaristic rhetoric.
China later took to the floor and warned of an “immense catastrophe” for the Cuban people while calling on the international community to unite to preserve the Cuban people’s right to life and development, and for relevant countries to implement the General Assembly resolutions that have consistently been voted for over the last 33 years, and to end all forms of sanctions and secondary sanctions against Cuba.
During an hours-long break in the debate, the U.S. worked behind the scenes to garner as much support as it could, siding with the suffering imposed by U.S. policy. This pressure campaign is typical for the United States and often involves offering bilateral agreements or threatening to end them. It’s a strategy that rarely ever works, as most world leaders don’t seem to respond to bullying and don’t appear to want to be a part of mass suffering caused by the U.S.
In the end, the United Nations General Assembly had no formal draft resolution scheduled for a vote. Despite the United States doing what it does, it appears that pressuring nations to stand with the U.S. as it attempts to starve 10 million Cubans didn’t seem to work, as noted by Stavros Lambrinidis, the European Union Ambassador to the United Nations.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez with the final word.
Arturo is an independent freelance journalist. He has written hundreds of articles on policing, immigration, race, and Latin America. His work has been featured in outlets such as Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, The Wire, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
The US and Israel need to be ejected from the UN.
We are two rogue states that don't belong at the grown ups table.
"Rodriguez excoriated the U.S. for its complicity in genocide in Gaza, the extrajudicial murders of boaters in the Caribbean, the police targeting of Black people and Latinos in the U.S., and its prison industrial complex." There it is. The truth in B&W. The US Executive Branch appears to be cruelly and criminally unhinged. Thank you Arturo