Havana said the United States was threatening countries with retaliation if they did not vote against the embargo.
Published October 21, 2026
Cuba has accused the United States of threatening countries with tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures in a bid to change their vote on an upcoming United Nations resolution calling for an end to the long-standing trade embargo on the island.
Every year, a majority of the United Nations General Assembly votes in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for an end to the U.S. embargo that began in the early 1960s.
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The embargo, believed to be the longest in modern history, is believed to have exacerbated the island’s economic woes.
But on Wednesday, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said the administration of US President Donald Trump was trying to pressure members of the UN General Assembly to vote against the resolution this year.
He explained that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Washington Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Walz personally led the campaign, which he claims has been going on for several months.
“This is a new and dangerous way to conduct multilateral diplomacy,” Rodriguez said in a statement posted on social media platform X. “It reflects the powerlessness of those who know they are in the wrong and whose only recourse is force.”
Rodriguez said if countries refuse to change their positions, U.S. officials are threatening to suspend cooperation programs, deny visas to government officials and their families, and even support opposition parties in future elections.
He also accused the United States of encouraging some countries to abstain from voting or skip voting altogether if they don’t want to vote against Cuba.
Al Jazeera reached out to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Increased pressure on Cuba
The allegations come amid heightened tensions between the two countries ahead of a vote on the resolution, which is expected to take place on October 27 or 28.
The Trump administration has long argued that the Cuban government, not the embargo, is to blame for Cuba’s economic slump and has called for regime change.
Walz on Monday accused Cuban diplomats of harassing and threatening participants during a U.S.-sponsored panel discussion on alleged human rights abuses in Cuba.
Cuba’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ernesto Soberon Guzmán and other representatives confronted Mr. Walz after the event at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
Afterwards, Walz told reporters that the Cuban government “spreads lies through annual resolutions” every year.
“The Cuban government is making one excuse after another to justify its repression and justify the misery of the Cuban people. What we are doing here at the United States Mission to the United Nations is to expose those lies,” he said.
Walz also acknowledged in a separate news conference the same day that the U.S. government had been lobbying European countries to reconsider their support for the resolution. He pointed to Ukrainian claims that Cuban citizens fighting for Russia are not being paid and that the money is instead going to the Cuban government.
“Yes, we asked many of our European colleagues: Given this evidence from the Ukrainian government, how can they continue to vote for this resolution that is a propaganda tool of the Cuban regime and directly impacts national security?” Walz said.
Almost every year since 1992, the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly supported resolutions calling for an end to the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba. The embargo itself has been in place for more than 60 years.
Since early 2026, the Trump administration has increased pressure on Cuba by cutting off oil supplies and threatening to impose tariffs on countries that supply Cuba with fuel, leaving Cubans facing deeper shortages of essential goods and prolonged power outages.
