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Part One of Two - General Assembly Overwhelmingly Calls For End To United States Embargo Of Cuba; Foreign Minister Calls Blockade Ruthless, Half-Century Economic War; Vote on Resolution 184 in favour to 4 Against, with 1 Abstention; Also Takes Up ECOSOC Report, Major Conference Follow-Up, Culture of Peace.

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M2 PRESSWIRE-31 October 2007-United Nations: Part One of Two - General Assembly Overwhelmingly Calls For End To United States Embargo Of Cuba; Foreign Minister Calls Blockade Ruthless, Half-Century Economic War; Vote on Resolution 184 in favour to 4 Against, with 1 Abstention; Also Takes Up ECOSOC Report, Major Conference Follow-Up, Culture of Peace(C)1994-2007 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:30102007

The General Assembly today voted overwhelmingly in favour of ending the 45-year-old United States trade embargo against Cuba, marking the sixteenth year in a row that the 192-Member body has urged the lifting of the stiff sanctions imposed on the Caribbean island in 1962.

By a recorded vote of 184 in favour to 4 against (Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau, United States), with 1 abstention (Federated States of Micronesia), the Assembly adopted a resolution expressing its concern that further measures aimed at strengthening and extending the embargo continued to be applied, with adverse effects [...] on the Cuban people and on Cuban nationals living in other countries. (For details of the vote, see annex.)

That action kicked off a wide-ranging day-long meeting that included the Assemblys annual review of the report of the Economic and Social Council, as well as brief debates on the culture of peace, and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences in the economic, social and related fields.

A burst of applause greeted the Assemblys adoption of the text urging an end to the trade embargo on Cuba, which, among other things, called on all States to refrain from promulgating laws in breach of freedom of trade and navigation, and urged Governments that had such laws and measures to repeal, or invalidate them. It also requested the Secretary-General to report on the texts implementation at the Assemblys next session.

Accusing Washington of imposing a ruthless, half-century economic war against his country, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said then-United States President Dwight Eisenhower had been the architect of the embargo in 1961 and that documents released since the 1990s revealed that the tough measures had sought to sow disenchantment and disaffection among the Cuban people. The plan had been to alienate internal support for the Cuban Government, cause hunger, despair and, ultimately, overthrow.

Some 47 years later, seven in 10 Cubans knew only such aggression against their country, he said, and the blockade had caused losses of some $222 billion at the current rate. As such, anyone could understand that the embargo was the main obstacle to the well-being of Cuban people, and constituted a systematic, blatant and massive violation of rights. Moreover, President George Bush had urged the United States Congress to maintain the embargo, and new measures were adopted that bordered on madness and fanaticism to deepen the blockade, which had never been enforced with such viciousness as in the past year.

Children had been particularly impacted, as they could not receive high quality medical treatments. The United States delegation should explain why Cuban children suffering from cardiac arrhythmia are the enemies of its Government, he said. He reiterated his Governments solidarity with United States filmmakers Oliver Stone and Michael Moore, who had shot documentaries in Cuba. The fact that Mr. Moore was now being investigated for a trip to Cuba was akin to 21st century McCarthyism.

He said that, while the United States had ignored with arrogance and political blindness the 15 resolutions calling for the lifting of the blockade, the Cuban people were closely following todays action in the Assembly and would fight at home with the conviction that defending their rights today was tantamount to fighting for the rights of all peoples. He had the legitimate right to say long live Cuba.

Speaking just before the vote, the United States representative said it is long past time that the Cuban people enjoy the blessings of economic and political freedom. He pointed out that the decision...

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