NEW YORK, NY, October 29, 2008: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) were among the countries and groups that took the floor in the United Nations to speak out against the Embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.

The occasion was the United Nations debate on a Cuban resolution entitled "the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba." It was the 17th consecutive year that Cuba introduced UN resolutions aimed at ending the Embargo. Although the resolution has passed overwhelmingly on many previous occasions, it has never been implemented.

During the debate, Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines took the floor separately from the CARICOM group representative to specifically thank Cuba for its assistance to his country and question the continued imposition of the Embargo. Citing the global changes that have occurred since the first time Cuba tabled this resolution before the United Nations, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the rise of globalisation, Ambassador Gonsalves said "The developments of the last 17 years therefore beg the question: Why is Cuba still the subject of a Cold War embargo, when the Cold War itself has long since ended? Seldom has a more ill-conceived, illogical and illegal measure been applied so punitively, and for so long, to a people so wholly undeserving of such punishment."

Ambassador Gonsalves thanked Cuba for its continued friendship to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, specifically mentioning scholarships, medical assistance, and the continuing construction of the Medical Complex at Georgetown and the the Argyle International Airport.

Calling his country a "stanch friend" of the United States, Ambassador Gonsalves nonetheless criticized the underpinnings of the Embargo, stating "The United States of America has the sovereign right to trade with whom it chooses, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines would not presume to advise any State in regard to its bilateral trading arrangements. However, the extraterritorial application of domestic law is a violation of our Charter, and a contravention of the underpinnings of our modern notions of global trade and international relations. It does violence to the rights of self-determination and sovereign equality."

Citing the ideological shifts in the world, which included the trade between and among the EU, the USA, China, Iran and Russia, and state interventions in capitalist free markets, Ambassador Gonsalves claimed that "As an ideological tool, the Embargo is a relic of a bygone era."

George Talbot, the Representative of Guyana, spoke separately on behalf of CARICOM. Commenting on the spate of hurricanes that recently struck Cuba, the Guyana envoy said "it is in these times of natural disaster and national crisis that the fundamental unjustness of the Embargo is brought into sharpest relief."

Calling the Embargo "increasingly anachronistic," Mr. Talbot stated "CARICOM reiterates its unwavering support for the right of the Cuban people to self-determination, in a manner beneficial to their social and economic development."

The United Nations vote was overwhelmingly in favour of the resolution. 185 countries voted in favour, three voted against (USA, Israel, Palau), two abstained (Micronesia, Marshall Islands), and two countries were absent (Iraq, El Salvador). 185 votes bested last year's record by 1 vote, and represented the largest expression of support in the 17-year history of the resolution.