Cuba's Report to the U.N. Against the U.S. Blockade of the Island

Full minutes of the U.N. debate on the 28 October 2004 Cuba vote.

U.N. press release on the 28 October 2004 Cuba vote.

Cuba's resolution to end the U.S. blockade.

Full text of Cuban F.M. Felipe Roque's address to U.N.

Cuban youth want peace and freedoms denied them by U.S. sanctions. They say "Please help end the U.S. embargo so we can have a better life!"

Cuba's Report to the United Nations to End the U.S. Blockade of the Island (prior to Oct 28, 2004 vote)

MOST NATIONS SUPPORT CUBA

Every year a growing number nations vote to support the people of Cuba and against the punitive, inhumane U.S. sanctions that cause enormous hardship and suffering for the island's people.


16 year United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voting record to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba

Year	For	Against	Abstain
1992	59	3	71
1993	88	4	57
1994	101	2	48
1995	117	3	38
1996	137	3	25
1997	143	3	17
1998	157	2	12
1999	155	2	8
2000	167	3	4
2001	167	3	3
2002	173	3	4
2003 A	179	3	2
2004 B	179	4	1
2005 C	182	4	2
2006 D	183	4	1
2007 E	184	4	1
2008 F	185	3	2

A. UNGA 2003 VOTE DETAILS:

1. Against Cuba: U.S., Israel and Marshall Islands (the latter is a U.S. protectorate).

2. Countries abstaining: Micronesia and Morocco.

3. Absent for vote: El Salvador, Iraq (occupied), Kuwait, Liberia (indebted to U.S.), Nicaragua, Palau and Usbekistan.

B. UNGA 2004 VOTE DETAILS:

1. Against Cuba: U.S., Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau (the latter two are U.S. protectorates).

2. Countries abstaining: Micronesia.

3. Absent for vote: El Salvador, Iraq (occupied), Morocco, Nicaragua, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu.

C. UNGA 2005 VOTE DETAILS:

1. Against Cuba: U.S., Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau (the latter two are U.S. protectorates).

2. Countries abstaining: Micronesia.

3. Absent for vote: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Iraq (occupied) and the Ivory Coast.

D. UNGA 2006 VOTE DETAILS:

1. Against Cuba: U.S., Israel, Marshall Islands and Palau (the latter two are U.S. protectorates).

2. Countries abstaining: Micronesia.

3. Absent for vote: Ivory Coast, El Salvador and Iraq (occupied).

E. UNGA 2007 VOTE DETAILS:

1. Against Cuba: U.S., Israel, Palau (population 20,842) and Marshall Islands (population 61,815). The latter two are U.S. protectorates.

2. Countries abstaining: Micronesia.

3. Absent for vote: Albania, El Salvador and Iraq (occupied).

F. UNGA 2008 VOTE DETAILS:

1. Against Cuba: U.S., Israel, Palau (population 20,842).

2. Countries abstaining: Micronesia and Marshall Islands (population 61,815).

3. Absent for vote: Two. Names forthcoming.

New information as of Visit the Official Cuba vs Blockade website.

Blockade overview The U.S. blockade of Cuba which has been in effect for over four decades has caused severe hardship and criminal injury to the island's people and economy. The measure of the damage is detailed in a report issued by Cuba to the U.N. General Assembly on September 30, 2004. The report is issued in preparation for a U.N. vote on the blockade (Resolution 58/7) taking place on 28 October 2004.

We consider it essential reading for all persons concerned with justice for Cuba and those who seek to understand both sides of the issue. It is rich in well documented facts, figures, chronologies, history, graphic accounts and analysis. For instance:

Cuba has lost some 80 billion U.S. dollars owing to this brutal policy of the United States.

It's the longest blockade in history having survived 10 consecutive U.S. administrations, and is the main obstacle to the Caribbean country's economic and social development.

Cubans liken the blockade to genocide. Over a million Iraqi children died under the blockade of that country by the Clinton administration.

Seven out of 10 Cubans have been born and lived under the blockade.

Last year 179 nations voted to end the blockade and three to maintain it (see column to right for previous votes).

It is Cuba's 13th report calling on an end to the US blockade.

Because of the length of the report we make it available in MS Word format for viewing on screen or printing.

Download report in English (228K / 67 PAGES)

Download report in Spanish (240K / 76 PAGES)

Brief excerpts from the introduction of the report entitled "The necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba"

This report devotes a long chapter to the new measures announced May 6, 2004 and to the regulations for applying these which were released on 16 June, 2004. It does this because of the great importance these have in making the blockade worse. Similarly, in six other chapters it provides a set of examples which irrefutably prove that the blockade is a monstrous creation which grievously affects the day-to-day lives of the people of Cuba.

As per paragraph (c) of article II of the Geneva Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, of 9 December 1948, the US blockade against Cuba qualifies as an act of genocide and is, therefore, a crime under international law.

The Cuban people reject the model of political and social organization that the US government is attempting to reinstall in their country with a view to re-imposing its apparatus of control and interference and to following its neoliberal recipes for reorganizing and managing the Cuban economy. Cuban men and women think that the schema the power circles in the superpower are offering them provide no solution to the problems, needs or historical interests of the Cuban nation nor to its desire to continue building a fairer, more democratic and more equal society.

Cuba trusts that an overwhelming majority of governments in the world will continue to recognize – as the peoples and honest, worthy men and women from the four corners of the earth have done – the vital importance of opposing the prolongation of an unlawful policy of hostility and unilateral aggression which is undermining the very foundations of multilateralism.

Although the Cuban people knows perfectly well that the best guarantee for its existence and development as a sovereign, independent nation lies in its will to unity, its determination to resist and conquer any threat or attack, it is sincerely grateful for the support and solidarity shown by the international community. Such support, as well as serving as moral, ethical and justified encouragement, shows that the battle it is waging today has universal importance and moves us all forward towards that common goal of building a better world, which is not only possible but essential if humanity is to survive.

Download report in English (228K / 67 PAGES)

Download report in Spanish (240K / 76 PAGES)