HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba yesterday launched its annual campaign for a United Nations resolution condemning the US economic embargo while the White House and the Vatican added their own pressure on the US Congress to end the 53-year-old sanctions.
The Vatican has long opposed the Cold War-era embargo, saying ordinary Cubans suffer most from its effects, and Havana is counting on hearing that message when Pope Francis visits for three nights starting Saturday before continuing on to the United States.
Although the pope is expected to note the Vatican’s opposition to the embargo during his US trip he will not dwell on the issue so as not to be seen as interfering in US politics and risk it backfiring, a Vatican official said.
US President Barack Obama, who nine months ago announced a historic rapprochement with the Communist-ruled island, did his own campaigning against the embargo yesterday, asking an influential Washington business lobby to urge Congress to remove it.
This year’s UN vote, set for October 27, will be the 24th time Cuba has marshaled international support against the embargo but the first since Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro stunned the world last December by announcing they would seek to restore diplomatic ties and work to normalize relations. Pope Francis helped broker the deal.
Cuba usually wins overwhelming support for its move, and this year there will be interest in how the United States votes given that Obama has called the embargo a failure, reversing a foreign policy tool of 10 previous US presidents.
Although Obama has taken steps to ease trade and travel restrictions, only the US Congress can remove the embargo completely. The Republican majority leadership and some in Obama’s own Democratic Party say it should remain in place as long as the one-party state represses political opponents in Cuba and holds a monopoly over the media.
Cuban Foreign Minister Rodriguez told a news conference his country “appreciates and recognizes” Obama’s policy change on the embargo. But he also said Cuba would not make concessions to get the US Congress to lift it, saying “Cuba is not going to make internal changes.”
For 23 previous years Cuba has won a nonbinding resolution with votes pitting most of the world against Washington and a handful of allies. For the past two years, 188 countries voted in favor, with only the United States and Israel voting against.
Cuba estimates the embargo has caused $121 billion in damage to its economy. Speaking to the Business Roundtable, a Washington lobbying group for corporate chief executives, Obama said lifting it would benefit US companies.
“My biggest suggestion would be for the BRT just to start having conversations on a bipartisan basis on lifting the embargo. It doesn’t necessarily have to happen or even should happen all in one fell swoop, but I think you look at the economic opportunities that are provided, they are significant,” he said.
