Global Policy Forum

For the 10th year in a row, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly today for an end to the United States trade embargo against Cuba.

The vote was 167 to 3, identical to last year's. Those opposing the resolution, in addition to the United States, were Israel and the Marshall Islands, which also supported Washington in 2000. Latvia, Micronesia and Nicaragua abstained, as they did last year.

Despite strong United Nations support for American positions since the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States, sympathy for Cuba's financial plight and condemnation of the blockade remained unchanged.

The 15 members of the European Union all voted in favor of the nonbinding resolution because of United States laws that seek to prevent foreign companies from having commercial dealings with Cuba. Belgium, speaking for the European Union, said Europeans deplored the effects of the embargo on the Cuban people. Speaker after speaker, especially those from developing countries, said the embargo violated the United Nations Charter.

The American representative, James Cunningham, said the embargo was intended to promote democracy in Cuba and noted that the United States had moved recently to allow Havana to buy food from the United States.

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