The global community feted Cuba at the UN General Assembly and condemned the US blockade of Cuba for the 15th year in a row, writes Faiza Rady Things never seem to change at the United Nations. Like clockwork, some vetoing and voting patterns remain monotonously predictable over the years. Take the scores of UN Security Council draft resolutions condemning Israel's human rights violations in occupied Palestine that are invariably vetoed by the United States in what has become akin to a knee jerk reaction. By the same token, since 1992, the UN General Assembly (GA) resolutions initiated by Cuba on the "Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade Imposed by the United States of America against Cuba" have become an annual occurrence. For the past 15 years, the anti- US blockade resolutions have consistently been approved by a near-unanimous vote, with generally only four out of a total of 192 UN-member states voting against -- namely the US, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau. Deriding the three loyal US allies, the Cuban daily Granma explains that "Israel is a US province and the latter two have been US protectorates for the last 60 years, their foreign affairs and budgets are controlled by Washington." On 8 November, the 15th GA resolution received 183 votes in favour, compared to 182 in 2005. This is a record high since the resolution was first introduced to the GA in 1992. "Though GA resolutions are non-binding, they mean a lot to our country because they signify a moral and ethical victory," Cuban Ambassador to Cairo Angel Dalmau Fernandez told Al-Ahram Weekly. Also, these resolutions are unique because "they are the only ones that actually condemn the US." "For everyone, the victory in the United Nations was historic and capped a major diplomatic effort," said Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque in New York. "It was recognition of the resistance of the Cuban people and Fidel Castro. It was a sign of the moral authority and prestige of Cuba and the accomplishments of its revolution." The record high GA vote in support of Cuba and against the blockade represents a global condemnation of US policies. Interestingly, it was European countries that voted unanimously in favour of lifting the blockade -- even though the EU and Eastern European countries have recently been toeing the US line in most cases. Middle Eastern nations also supported Cuba, with one notable exception. Of a total of 18 Arab countries, occupied Iraq was the only absentee. It is significant that the continent that brought in the highest numbers of votes for Cuba was sub-Saharan Africa. Of 47 African countries, 46 voted to lift the blockade. Only the Ivory Coast abstained, following US threats to veto the continuing mandate of UN peacekeeping troops in this troubled nation. Africa's special relationship with Cuba goes back to the days of the continent's liberation struggles against Apartheid South Africa and European imperialism. It was Cuban soldiers who fought alongside Angolan troops to beat back the South African invasion of their country. And it was Cubans who went to Namibia to support the Namibian liberation struggle against South Africa. The white South Africans never got over the fact that it was poor black Angolan, Namibian, South African and Cuban troops that defeated their sophisticated and well-trained army. At his inauguration as South African president in 1993, Nelson Mandela reminded the world of Cuba's role in his country's liberation struggle. Paying tribute to Cuban President Fidel Castro, Mandela embraced him and said: "you made this possible." Like everybody else, Latin American and Caribbean nations also voted overwhelmingly against the blockade. Of a total of 33 countries, only El Salvador and Nicaragua were absent. Daniel Ortega's recent victory at the polls, however, signifies a dramatic change in Nicaragua. With Ortega as president, it is clear that Cuba has won a new regional ally -- swelling the ranks of socialist leaders alongside Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales. The threat of mushrooming socialism in the region was not lost on the Bush administration, who predictably tried to derail Ortega's election by flexing their muscles. They threatened to cut off family remittances sent home by Nicaraguans living in the US, to deport illegal immigrants and to cut off trade and aid -- to no avail. Though the results of the GA votes remain constant, despite US machinations, the superpower continues to revise its tactics in order to defeat the tiny Caribbean island. "This year's condemnation of the US blockade has been the most important for Cuba because it was achieved amidst difficult conditions and brutal pressures exerted by Washington," explains Roque. In an attempt to turn the tables, the Bush administration manoeuvred to change the anti-US draft to a resolution condemning Cuba for alleged human rights violations. After changing the text, the US enlisted Australia to present the manipulated text to the GA, in lieu of the Cuban draft. It didn't work; the US version of the resolution was rejected by a two-thirds majority vote. The global community, as represented by the vast majority of GA member nations, stands with Cuba in recognition of Cuba's solidarity with internationalism in its willingness to share what it has with other countries -- despite the hardship of a blockade that has lasted for 47 years and has cost Cuba an estimated $86 billion, says Roque. Nevertheless, Cuba has accomplished much -- against all odds. Illiteracy has been wiped out and there is no hunger and malnutrition. The island's infant mortality rate of six per 1,000 births rivals that in the US, and the World Health Organisation has described the Cuban public health system as a "model for the world". Since its inception, the idea of the blockade was to defeat the Cuban Revolution and effect "regime change" by destroying the econaomy and impoverishing the Cuban people. This was clearly articulated in a declassified State Department report, dated 1958-1960 (Foreign Relations of the United States, Volume VI, Cuba). "Every means should be undertaken to weaken the economic life of Cuba," says the report, "to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow the government." In the words of the US government, the blockade has signified nothing less than economic warfare against the Cuban people.
