Cuban Ambassador Praises Caribbean Support Against US Embargo as Antigua and Barbuda Records No Vote

Cuba’s Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, Sergio Martínez Gonzalez, has praised countries that supported a United Nations resolution calling for an end to the United States’ embargo against Cuba, highlighting the solidarity shown by several Caribbean nations.

His remarks followed Wednesday’s vote at the UN General Assembly, where Antigua and Barbuda did not record a vote. The resolution was adopted with 130 countries in favour, 17 against and 25 abstentions. Antigua and Barbuda’s non-participation was separate from a recorded abstention.

In a written statement, Martínez Gonzalez described the outcome as another rejection of Washington’s economic, commercial and financial restrictions against his country.

He argued that the result carried particular significance for Cubans facing difficult living conditions, which he attributed to the effects of the US policy.

“The result achieved this year holds special significance for the Cuban people, who suffer the direct and daily effects of the blockade,” he said.

The ambassador accused the US government, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, of mounting a campaign of threats and pressure to discourage sovereign nations from supporting Cuba’s resolution.

Despite that pressure, he said, a majority of countries had maintained their support for ending the embargo.

Martínez Gonzalez expressed gratitude to governments that defended Cuba’s position, saying their support upheld international law, sovereign equality and the principles of the United Nations Charter.

He reserved particular praise for small countries, including several Caribbean states, which he said had maintained their solidarity with Cuban families despite external pressure.

The ambassador said that support was especially meaningful to mothers, children and elderly people facing hardship in Cuba.

Although his statement highlighted Caribbean solidarity, it did not name the regional countries he was praising or directly address Antigua and Barbuda’s failure to record a vote.

His remarks also offered no explanation for Antigua and Barbuda’s non-participation and did not explicitly link the country’s absence from the voting record to his allegations of US pressure.