For the 34th consecutive year the UN General Assembly voted today to approve the resolution presented by the Cuban government to end the life-threatening U.S. blockade first imposed on Cuba in 1962. After about five hours of debate over Oct. 27-28, this year’s vote of 130-17 with 25 abstentions compared unfavorably with last year’s of 165-7 with 12 abstentions, but Cuban diplomats attributed the shift in numbers to the State Department’s and White House’s unprecedented campaign of threats and intimidation of foreign legations to force them to change their vote. Those who voted against the resolution came as no surprise, the U.S., Israel, Ukraine, Argentina, the UAE, Colombia, and Hungary among them. Notably, among those who abstained from voting, many admitted that they agreed that the U.S.’s unilateral coercive measures imposed on Cuba violated international law and the UN Charter, but clung to the argument that Cuba’s “disrespect for human rights” justified their abstention.

But what stood out in three hours of debate Oct. 27 and two more Oct. 28 were the remarks by groups representing the Global South—the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, the Africa Group, the Group of 77 + China, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), ASEAN, and others—whose individual leaders spoke on behalf of their own nations as well. The five founding BRICS members—Russia, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa—all spoke out forcefully on Cuba’s behalf. This year, said Russia’s Permanent Representative, Vassily Nebenzia, it’s time for nations to vote “on principle.” These dignified, respectful, and often moving statements highlighted Cuba’s years-long contribution to “South-South cooperation,” the role of its medical doctors in saving millions of lives around the world, its promotion of scientific and technological advancement in many countries while offering tuition-free higher education to foreign students in its own universities and medical schools.