U.S. Department Of State Spokesperson Responds After UNGA Vote On Cuba... Comfortable Continuing To Be In The Minority With Israel Only Supporter.
/United States Department of State
Washington DC
30 October 2024
Press Briefing- Matthew Miller, Spokesperson
QUESTION: Well, let’s stay in that region – well, semi-in that region, and so the vote happened today in the UN on the Cuba embargo. Do you know what the vote was?
MR MILLER: Yeah, it was a predictable vote in line with past votes. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Yeah. Exactly. But just for the record, let’s say, it was 187 to 2 —
MR MILLER: Yeah.
QUESTION: — with one abstention.
MR MILLER: I am —
QUESTION: And the one abstention wasn’t even a Pacific Island nation. It was Moldova.
MR MILLER: Yeah. I’m aware of the – I’m aware of the long history —
QUESTION: So two.
MR MILLER: — of UN votes on this matter.
QUESTION: So you – yes, okay. So at what point, though, are you guys going to realize that the entire world, with the exception of you and Israel, thinks that the embargo is a really bad idea and should be stopped?
MR MILLER: Look, I think we are quite clear on the opinion of other countries around the world. And it’s one with which we —
QUESTION: So that —
MR MILLER: And it’s one with which we disagree. We take their opinion seriously, but we make our own policy determinations, and —
QUESTION: You do? It’s 32 years in a row with the exception of one year when you guys abstained. That was 2019. And —
MR MILLER: We – look, we take their views quite seriously, but we make our own determinations about these matters.
QUESTION: All right. You know what? Well —
MR MILLER: And we disagree.
QUESTION: Then – you take their views quite seriously? That is not borne out by the facts, that you continue to persist with this.
MR MILLER: We take them seriously, but we make our own decisions on this policy and others. So —
QUESTION: Okay. And are you comfortable, then, with it’s – just once again, it’s just you and Israel standing up.
MR MILLER: Certainly we would welcome other countries sharing our opinion in this. But we’re not blind to the history of countries around the world having a very different view of this matter. It long predates this administration. But as I said, we make our own determinations.
QUESTION: But what about the Obama —
MR MILLER: And with that —
QUESTION: What about the Obama administration disagreement? Were they wrong?
MR MILLER: I don’t have anything to comment on previous administration decisions. Thanks, everyone.