NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has joined the overwhelming majority of United Nations member states in urging the United States to lift its decades-old economic, commercial, and financial embargo on Cuba — a move that reinforces Nairobi’s alignment with the Global South on sovereignty, development, and a fairer international order.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution titled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”
The motion passed with 165 votes in favour, 7 against, and 12 abstentions, marking a slight shift from last year when only the U.S. and Israel opposed the measure and one country abstained.
Those voting against included the United States, Israel, Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay, North Macedonia, and Ukraine, while abstentions came largely from Eastern European and Latin American nations.
For Kenya, the vote extends its long-held position on multilateralism, respect for international law, and opposition to what it views as unilateral coercive measures.
Kenyan diplomats have previously described the U.S. embargo as a barrier to economic justice and a violation of the principle of sovereign equality.
Though non-binding, the annual resolution serves as a global diplomatic rebuke of Washington’s six-decade-old sanctions regime, imposed in 1962 at the height of the Cold War.
Critics say the embargo has crippled Cuba’s access to global markets and finance, worsening living conditions on the island.
Cuba welcomed the outcome as a reaffirmation of international solidarity, while the United States maintained that the sanctions remain a tool to promote political freedoms and human rights in Havana.
Analysts say the vote once again exposed deep divisions in global politics — between major powers and developing nations, and between proponents of sanctions and those advocating engagement as a means of diplomacy.
