For the first time, the United States has abstained from a United Nations General Assembly vote on a resolution calling for an end to a U.S. economic embargo on Cuba. The resolution was passed 191 to zero, with the United States and Israel abstaining. The U.S. had opposed the measure for the past 24 years. In Havana, residents welcomed the U.N. vote.

Yudith Rodríguez: “We really think the United States’ abstention is a step in the right direction, that proves that in the future, sometime soon, there could be an end to the blockade, given the conditions and flagrant violations of human rights that it represents.”