Photos: YouTube Screenshots
On November 2, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly debated a Motion tabled by the Republic of Cuba demanding that the United States end the “economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba”. The vote was 187 in support of the ending of the blockade; 2 against it being ended and 1 abstention. The two countries that voted against ending the blockade were the United States and Israel, with Ukraine abstaining.
This was the 31st successive year that Cuba tabled a Motion demanding that the US end the blockade and on every occasion the Motion was supported. Yet the US has bluntly refused to accept the UN vote and has continued the blockade, which is illegal, illegitimate and criminal.
The US has no respect for the rest of the world – 187 nations to be exact. In so doing it demonstrates that, contrary to what it preaches, it has no regard for democracy as the 187 against 2 vote shows. The US is thus behaving as the imperial bully that it has always been.
Might is right.
Only an imperial bully acts based on its superior power to bomb the hell out of a country or impose unilateral and thus illegal sanctions on a country or blockade it economically, financially and commercially.
It is not surprising that year after year, Israel is the one country that supports the US in the UN when the Motion on the blockade is debated. Israel and the US are alike. They are common thugs and bullies.
Israel is today engaged in genocide in Gaza, using US made bombs. Israel’s military was built up based on US money and immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel, US President Biden committed more financial support totaling billions of dollars to replenish Israel’s military arsenal and sent aircraft carriers and other military assets to the region to defend Israel.
Yesterday’s vote in the United Nations General Assembly and the one a week ago when 120 nations voted for a ceasefire in Gaza and only 14 nations – Israel being one and the US being the only “western power” – voting against a ceasefire, should tell us one thing. The US and Israel stand isolated in the world. This is no longer a unipolar world where the US can dictate the policies of many nations. The majority of the countries of the global south are taking stronger stands against colonialism and imperialism.
What is now required is for the international institutions that were created in the ashes of World War 2 – the UN, IMF, World Bank – to undergo major transformations. They were created when only the US, Europe and a few others were independent nations. The US and Europe were therefore given powers as if they would forever be the only one that were independent. These institutions can therefore act out a colonial and imperial agenda. 187 nations say – end the blockade but have no power to stop the US from its illegality. The IMF and World Bank impose policies on the global south that make worse global inequality.
The global south are creating alternative institutions – BRICS being one, CELAC being another – that may over time challenge hegemonic economic power of the US and the EU. Other institutions like the International Criminal Court – the legacy project of our own ANR Robinson – which could hold the US and Israel, among others, responsible for war crimes do not have as members these countries. So they avoid punishment. This must not be allowed to continue.
This unequal relationship of global power must end if there is to be true peace in the world. The votes in the UN signal where we must go. Thursday’s vote was once again a victory for the embattled and heroic people of Cuba. They are assured that they do not stand alone.
It is not Cuba that is isolated, but the US. And, in time we shall see the end of US hegemony. No empire lasts forever and Biden with his war mongering and continuation of the 200 year old Monroe Doctrine in this hemisphere will learn this the hard way.
We stand with Cuba – end the blockade now Mr. Biden!
David Abdulah
Political Leader
