Foreign Affairs Minister, Kamina Johnson-Smith, says Jamaica’s abstention from the UN vote is a shift in government policy.

She made the declaration during a post-cabinet media briefing on Wednesday.

According to the minister, the government has reaffirmed Jamaica’s solidarity with Cuba but called for dialogue between the United States and Cuba to promote stability and improve conditions for the Cuban people.

Minister Johnson Smith says the administration remains consistent on the position that broader action on the complex issue is required rather than a simple call for the end to the embargo.

She says the language of the UN resolution was found lacking in this regard.

Kamina Johnson-Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

And the Opposition is expressing grave concern over Jamaica’s abstention.

Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Senator Donna Scott-Mottley, says it is a significant departure from a position Jamaica has held for decades, under successive administrations.

She says it is deeply concerning that the country has changed course without any explanation to the Jamaican people.

Senator Scott-Mottley points to the motion on Cuba brought by the government’s own Minister of State and passed in the House without objection only a day earlier.

She asks what has changed in the space of 24 hours.

The senator says foreign policy cannot be conducted in a way that leaves Jamaicans uncertain about where their country stands.

She says that as a small state, Jamaica should not surrender its independent voice and that sovereignty, non-interference and respect for international law must remain central to its foreign policy.