Questions swirl over what MPs voted on in Parliament’s Cuba motion

Questions swirl over what MPs voted on in Parliament's Cuba motion
October 29, 2026

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Questions swirl over what MPs voted on in Parliament’s Cuba motion

Questions are being raised about the wording of the Cuba motion passed in Parliament on Tuesday.

This comes as Jamaica abstained from a United Nations vote calling for an end to the US embargo on Cuba.

For years, the House of Representatives has consistently passed an annual resolution calling for the embargo to be lifted.

But members of the Opposition are suggesting that this year’s motion did not include a call to end the embargo.

Chevon Campbell tells us more.

Nationwide News understands that Opposition Members of Parliament debated the motion, believing it was the same as in previous years, and did not see the final document until after the vote.

MP for South West St. Andrew, Dr. Angela Brown Burke, alluded to this during her contribution to the debate on Tuesday.

A day later, the UN General Assembly passed its annual resolution against the embargo, with one-hundred-and-30 countries voting in favour, 17 against and 25 abstentions.

Jamaica was among those that abstained.

Last year, Jamaica and all other CARICOM members voted in favour.

Days before the vote, nine former Caribbean leaders, including former Prime Ministers P.J. Patterson and Bruce Golding, urged countries to back it.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alando Terrelonge, who tabled the motion, spoke to Jamaica’s long-standing advocacy for the removal of the US embargo against Cuba.

But the motion itself did not specifically call for the embargo to be lifted.

It pledges support for constructive engagement between Cuba and the United States of America, aimed at reducing economic restrictions and other barriers to international trade, finance and investment.

This, while facilitating Cuba’s progressive integration into the international economic system rather than its isolation under the blockade.

Terrelonge instead spoke to the Prime Minister’s position and the need for domestic reform within Cuba.

The debate and affirmation of the motion took place in the presence of Cuba’s Ambassador to Jamaica, Tania López Larroque.

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