The UN General Assembly voted 185-3 on Wednesday to renew its annual demand that the United States end its trade embargo against Cuba. The United States, Israel and Palau voted against the resolution adopted by the 192-nation assembly. Resolutions passed in previous years have not swayed Washington, which considers those decisions non-binding despite the overwhelming support by UN members, reported the dpa. This year's resolution repeated the call for governments not to support the Helms-Burton Act passed by Congress in 1996 that penalizes countries doing business with Cuba. The UN said the act violates other states' sovereignty and "the legitimate interests of entities or persons under their jurisdiction and the freedom of trade and navigation." The UN resolution called on governments with national legislation conforming to the embargo, "to repeal of invalidate them as soon as possible." France, the current leader of the European Union, said before the assembly vote that it is opposed to the US trade embargo against Cuba, which it said is an issue between the two countries that should not be extended to other countries. "The European Union cannot accept that the unilateral measures imposed by the US on specific countries limit the EU's economic and commercial relations with third countries, in this case Cuba," said French delegate Jean-Pierre Lacroix. Washington enacted the embargo against Cuba in retaliation for Fidel Castro's seizure of US properties in the 1950s and to protest the lack of human rights in the island nation.
