US Threats Push Dependent Smaller States to Support the US Blockade on Cuba.

Trita Parsi*

Sad to see countries keep complaining about the lawlessness Trump is bringing to the international arena, but when push comes to shove, they not only don't dare to push back; they acquiesce to US pressure.

 

See, for instance, the annual resolution at the UNGA condemning the US's decades-long embargo on Cuba.

 

This resolution gets huge support every year. But this year, the US's strong-arming tactics moved the needle significantly in Washington's direction.

 

Support for the Cuban resolution fell from 165 countries in 2025 to 130 in 2026, while opposition rose from 7 to 17 and abstentions more than doubled, from 12 to 25.

 

Colombia, Slovenia, Trinidad and Tobago and the UAE went from voting for it to voting against it.

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Czechia, Ecuador, Lithuania, and Morocco moved from abstention in 2025 to an outright NO vote in 2026.

 

Then these countries went from supporting the resolution to abstaining:

 

Bahrain, Chile, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Montenegro, Netherlands, Palau, Peru, Qatar, South Korea, Solomon Islands.

 

The main common denominator for these states that have abandoned their longstanding opposition to an illegal embargo is their vulnerability to and dependence on the US. As US foreign policy grows more aggressive and unforgiving, the cost of defying it on this vote has become too high. For some of the smaller states, this is understandable given their near-total dependence on the US. 

 

But this does not apply to states such as Germany, Italy, South Korea, and the Netherlands. They don't have this excuse. Their failure is beyond embarrassing. 

 

Germany is particularly noteworthy. Germany, for the first time, lost a bid earlier this year for an elected seat at the UNSC. This is particularly embarrassing for Germany since it has long sought a permanent seat on the Council. The overarching reason for this failure is the common view that Germany has abandoned international law - it insisted on it in Ukraine, but abandoned it in Gaza, Venezuela, and Iran.

 

Add Cuba to that list. Rather than restoring its standing, Germany dug a deeper hole for itself with this vote.

 

* Trita Parsi is a co-founder and Executive VP of the Quincy Institute.