US thanks Trinidad and Tobago for first no vote on UN Cuba embargo

Washington thanks Port of Spain

US Under Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted the thanks on X.

Landau wrote that Washington "acknowledges and thanks" the government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. He described the 28 October vote as support for "a democratic transition in Cuba at the UN this year". He added that the US was "proud to stand alongside Trinidad and Tobago and other democracies in the region denouncing the repressive Cuban regime". Landau also asked how countries could vote in favour of a government that "has not allowed its own people to vote for nearly 68 years".

Persad-Bissessar replied that her government defends democracy, freedom, human dignity and the right of all citizens, including Cubans, to determine their political future.

Trinidad and Tobago voted on 28 October. It joined Washington and 15 other countries against the resolution.

Why the vote matters

The resolution is a recommendation, not law. US law sets the embargo, including the 1996 Helms-Burton Act. Nothing in the vote changes US travel, trade or sanctions rules for Cuba. The text carries the title "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba".

Politically, the tally moved. The General Assembly adopted the resolution for the 34th consecutive year with 130 votes in favour, down from 165 in 2025. Seventeen countries voted against and 25 abstained, against seven and 12 a year earlier. Trinidad and Tobago was the only CARICOM member to vote no in most accounts. Jamaica, Guyana and Haiti abstained, and the rest of the bloc either voted yes or stayed away.

A break with 33 years

Trinidad and Tobago abstained when the resolution was first tabled in 1992. It then voted in favour every year from 1993 through 2025. This year was the first time it voted no. It was one of 12 countries that moved from a yes in 2025 to a no in 2026.

In 2024 the resolution drew 187 votes in favour and two against.

Lists placed The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis and Suriname with those backing the text. Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St Lucia were absent from the chamber. Reports differ on Barbados: one list placed it with the no votes, another with the yes votes.

Persad-Bissessar's defence

On 28 October the prime minister said the United National Congress "supports the Cuban people" but does not support "a military dictatorship". "The Cuban people deserve democracy," she wrote.

She endorsed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's argument that Cuba needs political reforms before it can prosper. She also accused Cuba's leadership and their families of living in luxury while ordinary Cubans endure shortages.

There was backlash at home. Former Prime Minister Keith Rowley called the vote "shameful". Former foreign minister Amery Browne called it "disgraceful". Eleven former CARICOM heads of government had signed an open letter urging member states to support the resolution. Persad-Bissessar accused the signatories of hypocrisy, saying they would not accept the same system at home.

What the vote does not settle

The government has not said whether the United States requested the shift. The foreign minister had not explained the decision. Whether the break survives next year's vote, and whether other Caribbean governments follow, is open.