UNITED NATIONS -
The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to urge the
United States to end its 45-year-old trade embargo against Cuba
after defeating an amendment calling on
Fidel Castro's government to free
political prisoners and respect human rights.
It
was the 15th straight year that the 192-member world body approved a
resolution calling for the U.S. economic and commercial embargo against
Cuba to be repealed "as soon as possible." Cuba's Foreign Minister
Felipe Perez Roque told the assembly "the economic war unleashed by the
U.S. against Cuba, the longest and most ruthless ever known, qualifies as
an act of genocide and constitutes a flagrant violation of international
law and the charter of the
United Nations."
The General Assembly voted on the resolution soon after
defeating an amendment by Australia stating that the U.S. laws and
measures "were motivated by valid concerns about the continued lack of
democracy and political freedom in Cuba."
It also would have called on Cuba to release all political
prisoners, cooperate with international human rights bodies, respect the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and comply with all human rights
treaties to which it is a signatory.
Delegates in the General Assembly chamber
burst into applause when
the vote flashed on the screen — 183 in favor to 4 opposed, with 1
abstention. Joining the United States in voting "no" were
Israel and the
South Pacific nations of the Marshall Islands and Palau. Micronesia, also
in the South Pacific, abstained. In Cuba, state-run television showed
Foreign Ministry officials in Havana cheering when the result was
announced.