Caribbean nations fracture as UN vote ends Cuba embargo

Trinidad and Tobago cast a negative vote at the United Nations on Wednesday, joining a small group of Caribbean states that blocked a resolution to end the United States embargo on Cuba. The move split the 15-nation regional bloc, which had previously maintained a united front on the issue. The UN General Assembly approved the resolution with 130 nations voting in favor. Seventeen nations voted against, and 25 abstained. The United States has enforced the trade ban since 1960. The resolution has been voted on annually since 1992, and it is non-binding. However, the vote serves as a diplomatic indicator of global support for Cuba.

The division in the Caribbean region is immediate and sharp. Trinidad and Tobago, often viewed as the closest US ally in the region, led the opposition. Guyana and Jamaica abstained from the vote. St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Dominican Republic ensured their delegates were not present when the roll was called. The remaining Caribbean nations voted to end the embargo. These countries included the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname. Haiti also abstained. No regional government has publicly confirmed that pressure from the Trump administration caused the split. The administration has denied tourist visas to officials and citizens of several Caribbean nations. It has also pressured these countries to accept large numbers of non-national deportees. The US has imposed severe visa restrictions on Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica over these arrangements. Dominica has received its first batch of deportees. Antiguan and US officials are currently negotiating the size of future arrivals.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago defended the country's negative vote in a public post. Her cabinet allowed US military forces to use Trinidad and Tobago as a base for operations against Venezuela earlier this year. Persad Bissessar stated that the country respects the sovereign right of other nations to determine their foreign policy. She argued that those who support a dictatorship in Cuba would not support it in their own country. She described dictatorship as having nothing romantic or idealistic about it, even when masked as a revolutionary struggle. The prime minister said Trinidad and Tobago is against military dictatorship and supports the Cuban people's right to elect a government democratically.

Jamaica's Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon said no external factors influenced the decision to abstain. She stated that Jamaica is a sovereign nation and made its own decision. Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith explained the abstention in more detail. She said Jamaica did not vote against the resolution because it does not support unilateral action under the UN Charter. She also said Jamaica did not vote in favor because continuing to support the resolution each year has not improved conditions. She noted that the humanitarian crisis in Cuba has deepened, which does not serve the benefit of the Cuban people. Guyanese officials have not commented on their abstention.

Cuban Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda Sergio Martínez Gonzalez praised the nations that supported the resolution. He said the result holds special significance for the Cuban people. He noted that they suffer the direct and daily effects of the blockade. Cuba has trained thousands of regional doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, and marine biologists over the decades, largely for free. The island remains financially strained. The vote underscores the shifting dynamics in the region as the US leverages economic and diplomatic tools to influence Caribbean policy.

The next steps in the process are clear. The UN General Assembly will likely hold a similar vote next year. The US will continue to enforce the embargo regardless of the vote outcome. Caribbean nations must decide how to balance their relationships with their nearest neighbor and their historical ties to the island. The absence of three delegations and the negative vote of one send a clear message to Washington and Havana. The region is no longer a monolith on this issue. The financial costs of the embargo remain high for Cuban citizens. The diplomatic costs of the split remain high for the regional bloc.