US to abstain for first time in UN vote against Cuba embargo

October 26, 2016 22:51

The United States will for the first time abstain from a vote at the United Nations calling for an end to the US embargo against Cuba, Ambassador Samantha Power said today.

"The United States has always voted against this resolution. Today the United States will abstain," Power told the General Assembly, drawing loud applause.

The 193 UN member states were set to adopt for the 25th time the annual resolution presented by Cuba criticising the embargo, imposed in 1960 at the height of the Cold War.

Washington's abstention was in line with calls from President Barack Obama for the opposition-controlled Congress to lift the decades-old embargo as part of a historic normalization of relations.

The United States restored diplomatic ties with Cuba in July last year and Obama made a landmark visit to the communist-ruled island in March.

But the final decision to restore full trade and financial ties with Cuba would require legislative action by Congress.

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