ASEAN Announces Vote at UN Against Blockade of Cuba

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced today here that it will support a new resolution at the UN General Assembly calling for an end to the U.S. blockade against Cuba.

Speaking in the debate on the siege Washington has imposed on the island for more than 60 years, Singapore recalled on behalf of the 11-country bloc that for more than three decades the United Nations has demanded the lifting of the blockade and denounced its economic and social impact.

In his speech, Singapore's ambassador, Burhan Gafoor, invoked the need to respect the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, such as sovereign equality, non-interference and non-intervention, and the peaceful settlement of disputes.

He likewise expressed, in the General Assembly plenary, the regional mechanism's concern—composed of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, and Malaysia, among others—over the consequences of the U.S. blockade against Cuba in key sectors of society.

Among the areas hardest hit by the siege—a measure rejected on 33 occasions by the international community in the Assembly—he mentioned access to health care, medicines, and food.

Gafoor insisted that ASEAN has been consistent in calling for the suspension of the blockade against the island as soon as possible.

Singapore also rejected at the UN the energy siege that the United States applies against Cuba as part of the intensification of the blockade. Likewise, it urged dialogue to resolve differences between states, instead of resorting to confrontation and isolation.