The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn the U.S. embargo against Cuba for the 21st year in a row. The final vote was 188-to-3, with only Israel and the Pacific island state of Palau joining the United States. U.S. envoy Ronald Godard urged fellow General Assembly delegates to reject the measure.

Ronald Godard: “This resolution only serves to distract from the real problems facing the Cuban people, and therefore my delegation will oppose it. We encourage this body to support the desires of the Cuban people to determine their own future freely. By doing so, it would truly advance the principles of the United Nations Charter and the purposes for which the United Nations was created.”

Speaking for the Cuban government, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called on President Obama to break from decades of U.S. isolation of Cuba.

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla: “President Obama has an opportunity to start a new policy toward Cuba different from the one implemented by his 10 predecessors for more than half a century. It will surely be a difficult task, and maybe he would face serious obstacles, but the president of the United States still has the constitutional powers that would enable him to listen to public opinion and generate the necessary dynamics by means of executive decisions even without the approval of Congress.”

Addressing the assembly on behalf of Latin American and Caribbean states, Chilean envoy Octavio Guilisasti said overwhelming U.N. opposition to the embargo reflects the consensus of virtually the entire world.

Octavio Guilisasti: “We emphasize the inconsistency that exists between the application of the unilateral measures which has no backing in international law and the latter spirit and principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations. We urge the United States of America to make the necessary adjustments to its international behavior in this regard, aligning its legislation with the Charter of the United Nations, the resolutions of the United Nations and the views of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and, in general, of all the regions of the world.”