FOR a quarter of a century, some member states of the United Nations (UN), including Guyana, have been voting at that institution to end the United States’ (U.S) trade embargo on Cuba. For 24 of those years, the U.S voted against ending that embargo.Tuesday, the day prior to the vote, U.S Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, made known that the U.S would this year abstain from voting, and did so on Wednesday when the resolution came up for adoption. The most trusted ally of the U.S in the Middle East, Israel, also abstained, while 191 of the 193 members of the General Assembly voted in favour of the resolution.

This is a historic moment in bettering human relations. In abstaining, the U.S made very clear that it does not support all of Cuba’s policies, and took the pain of expressing dissatisfaction with the human rights’ violations of that country’s government.

That being said, the Barack Obama Administration continues to make steps in dismantling hostile relations between the two countries. The political Cold War is over; most of the major forces of that era are no longer alive, or are not in active political leadership; Fidel Castro, widely considered the U.S’ nemesis, is not enjoying the best of health, neither is he in active politics; John F. Kennedy, under whose presidency the U.S Congress passed the embargo, which he signed into law, has been dead for 53 years. Outside of that, there is not much, if any, wisdom to be derived from continuing an isolationist policy with Cuba when citizens of the world are demanding governance that is built on human rights and are increasingly moving towards global trade.

Michelle Nichols of Reuters reports (26th October 2016) that Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, said in September that damage from U.S. sanctions between April 2015 and March 2016 cost Cuba US$4.6 billion, and US$125.9 billion since the embargo’s inception more than 50 years ago. This is trade the U.S could have tapped into; trade that could have redounding to the benefit of both economies and their peoples.

And while it requires U.S Congress to lift the embargo, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate’s resistance — based on perception that the Obama Administration is giving too much to Cuba without demanding same in return — exemplifies double-standards and inability to grasp and command significant moments in history.

Or are the Republicans so determined in their desire to make the Obama presidency fail that they, too, are failing themselves, their constituents, country and world?

In this Information Age, Cubans are not isolated from what is happening in the world, nor are they passively taking things as they come along. Reports of human rights’ violations also make known that there is activism in Cuba to correct these; and that activism can only increase. It is increasingly harder in this era for governments to get away with certain actions.

The push by Obama to dismantle a policy Guyana has always rejected is smart, because, in establishing relations with Cuba, the U.S can benefit from trade equally as it can better influence change from within Cuba through merchandising.

As Congress refuses to act on its claim of human rights’ violations in Cuba, one major U.S trading partner and lender is China, which has a communist government that also is accused of human rights’ violations. Chinese billionaire Cho Tak Wong, chairman of the Fuyao Group, China’s biggest maker of automotive glass, is presently operating an automotive factory in Moraine, Ohio, which the company bought and has since employed thousands of Americans there.

There are still ways to go in normalizing the relationship between Cuba and the U.S. Every step in realising this relationship is improving human relations and is testimony to mankind’s ability to be respectful of each other and be able to resolve differences in a civil manner.

Where the UN remains the world’s most powerful governmental body, member states will, no doubt, bring their influence to bear in improving relations within Cuba based on UN declarations, and applying other forms of diplomacy: social, economic, political and cultural. The quest for dignity and equality must never cease, until every every man, woman and child enjoys these fundamental human rights; and to this end, the Obama Administration is on the right side of history in delivering leadership to the world.