November 8, 2017
The Japan Asia Africa Latin America Solidarity Committee (Japan AALA) has recently issued a statement calling on the U.S. to lift its economic blockade on Cuba in response to a resolution the UN General Assembly passed the other day.
The UNGA on November 1 adopted the resolution highlighting the need to remove the U.S. economic blockade on Cuba, with 191 countries in favor and only the U.S. and Israel opposed out of 193 attendees.
The Japan AALA in the statement points out, "The U.S. Trump administration, in an attempt to increase the number of countries opposing the resolution, put pressure on UN member states. However, the result was that as many as 191 nations voted for the resolution. No matter what kind of excuse the U.S. makes, its 'sanctions' against Cuba constitute illegitimate interference restricting even other countries' trade with Cuba and also are a clear violation of the UN Charter and international law. The unsuccessful U.S. attempt to influence the vote at the UNGA clearly shows the Trump administration policy is incompatible with international norms."
The Japan AALA says that the U.S. should "respect the opinion of the overwhelming majority of the world's countries and stop carrying out the unreasonable blockade on Cuba right now".