General Assembly: 88th plenary meeting, 80th session

1. Item 32

   for international peace, security and development

2. Item 13

   summits in the economic, social and related fields

3. Item 65(b)

   sustainable development in Africa

🇺🇸 United States, 🇨🇺 Cuba

1. 🇺🇸 United StatesFirst replyin response to Cuba▶ 1:52:54 · 1 min

   Thank you, Chair. The United States must respond to the baseless allegations made by the Cuban delegation. The U.S. embargo and related sanctions are legal. All countries have the right to decide who they want to trade with. It is our sovereign decision not to trade with Cuba. The U.S. embargo has important, long-standing exceptions for exports of critical consumer goods, and the United States is a major exporter of food, medicine, and medical devices to Cuba. In 2025, for example, U.S. farmers exported approximately 490 million of agricultural products to Cuba. Key exports included poultry, pork, powdered milk, eggs, and others. The U.S. embargo is a codified in law via the 1996 Libertad Act, aka the Helmsburton Act. The embargo cannot end until Cuba transitions to a democratic system of government. We are now offering an additional $100 million package of humanitarian assistance, food, hygiene, and water treatment supplies to be distributed directly to the Cuban people through the Catholic Church and other reliable institutions, not to the corrupt communist regime. We are also permitting food fuel deliveries from the United States to private entities not affiliated with the regime. Thank you. Yeah.

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2. 🇨🇺 CubaFirst replyin response to United States▶ 1:54:14 · 2 min

   Thank you very much, Mr. President. Cuba regrets having to once again take the floor in this room to reply to the unfounded lies of the United States delegation. We energetically reject the declarations of this country, and we also energetically reject the denial of the blockade and the reinforced energy blockade against Cuba. They have been announced publicly, and their impacts have been recognized by international organizations, including rapporteurs and agencies of the United Nations. And its consequences have even been recognized by important politicians in the United States. And it is truly regrettable that a representative of this country comes to this room to deny that these measures exist and that they have an impact on the Cuban people. Cuba once again reiterates its right to keep a dignified development path without external interference. We reject these measures and their effects on the Cuban people, and we call upon the United States and the international community to lift the blockade and to respect the right of the Cuban people to choose their own path and destiny. I thank you. Okay. The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 127. The Assembly will resume its consideration of Agenda Item 13 entitled Integrated and Coordinated Implementation of and Follow Up to the Outcomes of the Major United Nations Conferences and Summits in the Economic, Social and Related Fields to take action on a proposed proposal announced in the journal.

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Verbatim from the transcript. A reply is identified from its own words, the Chair's grant, or its place in the right-of-reply sequence; delegations and addressees follow the transcript's attribution.