The singer-songwriter and officialist deputy Raúl Torres published an extensive open letter on Facebook addressed to the governments of the world and the United Nations, in which he pleads with them not to vote against Cuba in the upcoming session of the General Assembly, scheduled for October 28th.
The singer describes the U.S. embargo as "genocidal" and characterizes it as a "collective punishment" that results in "hunger, disease, and hopelessness" for the Cuban population.
"The blockade against Cuba is not a diplomatic measure. It is a siege that impacts everyday life due to decisions made far from our home," writes Torres, who adds that "calling it 'genocidal' is not rhetorical excess: it is naming the accumulated pain of generations who have lived under siege."
The text directly appeals to the conscience of diplomatic representatives: “Do not allow coercion, threats, commercial pressures, or fear to replace the voice of your consciences,” and emphasizes that voting against Cuba would be equivalent to “endorsing collective punishment.”
The letter concludes with a statement that encapsulates the official stance: "Cuba does not ask for a gift of the future. It asks to be allowed to build it. It asks not to be suffocated."
Torres publishes his letter at a time of intense diplomatic activity prior to the annual vote on the resolution "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," which has been presented at the UN since 1992 and is not legally binding.
The chancellor Bruno Rodríguez accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of "blackmailing" governments to change their votes, after it was confirmed that Rubio called El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele to discuss "shared priorities" at the UN, including Cuba.
In the opposite direction, a coalition of Cuban democratic organizations —led by the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance and UNPACU— issued a call with over 1,000 endorsements for democracies to reject or abstain from voting, arguing that the resolution benefits the regime rather than the Cuban people.
The text by Torres is part of the regime's campaign to maintain international support ahead of a vote that is shaping up to be more contested than in previous years: in 2024, the resolution received 187 votes in favor; in 2025, it dropped to 165, the lowest number in over a decade; and in a special session held last July, it barely reached 136 supports, with nine votes against and 30 abstentions.
Torres, a deputy of the National Assembly of People's Power and an emblematic figure of Cuban cultural officialdom, is the author of "Patria o Muerte por la Vida" (2021), a song conceived as a governmental response to the opposition anthem "Patria y Vida."
In recent days, he also described Cubans in the diaspora as "broken-hearted," although he did not point to the Government's responsibilities for the exodus.
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