UN condemns Cuba embargo again, but 130-17 is its weakest win since 1995

The UN General Assembly voted 130-17 with 25 abstentions on Wednesday to condemn the US economic embargo of Cuba for the 34th consecutive year. The resolution passed. The number behind it did not.

Support fell to its lowest level since 1995, down from 165-7 with 12 abstentions last year. Ten more states voted against the measure and 13 more abstained, including Germany and Italy, which had previously voted in favor. The US and Israel were among the 17 opposed.

The vote followed a lobbying push led by US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, and came a day after a shouting match on the General Assembly floor between Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. Rodriguez said the US was "once again isolated." Washington pointed to the rise in abstentions as evidence its push to isolate Cuba is slowly succeeding.

Both claims can be true at once, and the vote is best read as a measure of how far US pressure can shift international opinion even when it cannot win the headline. The resolution's passage shows the symbolic consensus against the embargo remains intact. The erosion of support — particularly among European allies — shows that consensus is thinner than it was a year ago.

The debate took place amid a broader US pressure campaign against Cuba, including an oil blockade and broad sanctions that have severely crippled the country's economy.

What is new is the result: a symbolic defeat for Washington and a measurable diplomatic gain in the same tally.