US and Cuba clash at UN as Washington seeks to sway annual vote on
economic embargo
[October 20, 2026]
By FARNOUSH AMIRI
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and Cuba clashed Monday at the
United Nations as the Trump administration sought once again to build
opposition for an upcoming annual vote condemning Washington's
decades-long economic embargo against Havana.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz hosted a “Cuba Libre” panel with
dissidents and former prisoners in an effort to highlight what he called
the oppressive behavior of the island's government.
The event included explicit footage of what appeared to be Cuban
citizens being detained, and panelists described being tortured and
persecuted for years for speaking out against the government. Havana has
long denied holding political prisoners, but activist groups have
registered thousands imprisoned for political reasons.
“This is the oppression that Havana wants to hide,” Waltz said during
the event at the U.N. headquarters, while urging countries to look past
“70 years of propaganda” and vote against the resolution next week.
A few feet away, Cuban Ambassador to the U.N. Ernesto Soberón Guzmán
gathered diplomats and allies from around the world to protest what he
called a sham event against Cuba.
“This charade is an attempt to deviate attention from a simple fact: The
U.S. is acting as an international delinquent, enforcing collective
punishment on the people of Cuba,” Guzmán said.
It is the second year in a row that the Trump administration has waged a
campaign to influence the U.N. resolution aimed at calling out the U.S.
government’s “maximum pressure policy” against Cuba.
The U.S. efforts are part of larger plan to force changes to Cuba’s
political system by cutting off fuel to the island, leading to massive
power outages that affect basic activities such as cooking, water supply
and internet and telephone services.
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Photos of former Presidents Raúl Castro, right, and his late brother
Fidel Castro cover a front door in Havana, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026.
(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The annual vote condemning the U.S. economic embargo has been put
before the U.N. General Assembly for the past 34 years and each time
receives overwhelming support from the world body's 193 member
states. Last year, the vote was 165-7, with 12 abstentions.
Argentina, Ukraine and Hungary opposed the measure for the first
time.
While such resolutions are not legally binding, they do reflect
world opinion.
The U.S. embargo against Cuba was first imposed in 1960 after Fidel
Castro led a revolution that toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista and
nationalized properties belonging to U.S. citizens and corporations.
In 2015, then-Cuban President Raúl Castro and U.S. President Barack
Obama officially restored relations. The following year, the U.S.
abstained, for the first time, on the General Assembly resolution
calling for an end to the embargo.
Cuba, meanwhile, has struggled since 2020 with an economic and
energy crisis. Its gross domestic product has shrunk, and its 10
million residents have endured blackouts, food shortages and
inflation. There have been waves of protests, and hundreds of
thousands of Cubans have migrated, many to the United States.
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