The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to take up a debate on United States sanctions against Cuba, acting on a formal request from Havana, United Nations News reported.
The debate centers on a decades-long US embargo against Cuba. The island nation is situated in the Caribbean, and warnings of increasing suffering among its population accompanied the session, according to United Nations News.
Cuba itself initiated the meeting by requesting that the General Assembly convene to address the sanctions. The assembly's vote to proceed was described as overwhelming, reflecting broad support among member states for placing the issue on the agenda.
The embargo has been in place for decades, and the Tuesday session marked a formal multilateral forum for airing grievances tied to its continued enforcement. Warnings about the human toll of the sanctions, including what United Nations News described as increasing suffering on the island, were raised as the assembly took up the matter.
No vote on the embargo itself was recorded as part of Tuesday's proceedings. The debate before the General Assembly represents the next step in Cuba's effort to bring international attention to the sanctions through the UN body.