UN General Assembly Again Votes to Condemn US Embargo of Cuba Despite Lobbying Push

The United Nations General Assembly has once again voted to condemn the economic embargo the United States maintains on Cuba, even after US officials pressed countries to withdraw their support.

The resolution passed on Wednesday with 130 countries in favor and 17 opposed, among them the United States and Israel. Another 25 countries abstained. Those abstentions included Germany and Italy, which had voted in favor in the past. The General Assembly has voted to condemn the embargo every year for more than three decades.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on social media after the vote that the United States was "once again isolated in its attempt to continue strangling the Cuban people." He added: "Neither its most insane pretexts nor its pressures nor media circus will prevail over the force of facts and truth."

The embargo is part of a campaign lasting more than six decades to isolate Cuba and squeeze its economy. It has drawn wide condemnation internationally and has been linked to growing hardship on the island. The administration of US President Donald Trump has added further economic restrictions, including an energy blockade, to tighten the pressure.

The economic measures have been paired with a diplomatic effort to isolate Havana further. US officials said the increase in abstentions on Wednesday showed that effort at work. Cuban officials, for their part, accused Washington of threatening countries with tariffs, visa restrictions and other penalties if they voted to condemn the embargo.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told reporters after the vote that he was "satisfied that so many countries now, including major economies like Korea, like Germany and others have shifted their position." He said: "Diplomacy takes time, but now that we've had a tripling of countries that have shifted, we expect that to only continue to grow."

Tensions between the two delegations had already boiled over on Tuesday during a General Assembly debate. US and Cuban officials shouted at each other and appeared to get into a shoving match.

On Wednesday, Waltz said that Richard Tur de la Concepcion, a first secretary at Cuba's UN mission, would be expelled from the United States for "assaulting an American diplomat."

Al Jazeera contacted the US and Cuban missions for comment but had not received a response.