WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Thomas Zimmer — Although the United States and Cuba have restored full diplomatic relations this year, the UN General Assembly voted earlier on Tuesday to condemn the continuing US embargo against the island nation for the 24th year in a row.
"I doubt that it [UN vote] will have any effect at all," State University of New York at Buffalo Political Science Professor Frank Zagare said on Tuesday.
The General Assembly voted 191 — 2 in favor of the condemnation with only the United States and Israel opposing it.
On September 18, the Obama administration lifted many restrictions on travel and money transfers, opening of representative offices in Cuba as well as permitted US-registered ships to visit the country.
However, the US Congress remains reluctant to accede to Cuban demands to fully lift the trade embargo.
"There remains deep opposition in the US Congress for lifting the sanctions and a general disregard among Republicans to votes taken in the [UN] General Assembly," Zagare explained.
Center for Strategic and International Studies International Business expert Scott Miller agreed that UN votes never have any real impact on the decisions the United States makes on its trade policies toward other nations.
"A path to normalized relations with Cuba is possible, but it would require action in good faith by both parties," Miller noted. "As an example, the US and Vietnam were at war in the 1970s and had no diplomatic relations up until 1995."
University of Miami International Studies and Communication Professor Thomas Steinfatt told Sputnik that President Barack Obama may want to lift the sanctions, but it’s not likely to happen given the political balance in the current Congress.
"The major change that will affect the embargo is the makeup of Congress after the November 2016 election," Steinfatt said.
Only a change in control of both chambers of Congress, which are both currently controlled by Republicans, could lead to lifting the embargo, he continued.
"If the Democratic candidate for President — likely Hillary Clinton — wins next November [2016] and sweeps a Democratic majority into the US House [of Representatives] and the Senate, that might well lead to a vote to end the embargo," Steinfatt pointed out.
The United States imposed an embargo on Cuba in 1961 and the two countries finally restored diplomatic ties on July 20, 2015.
