For the first time in history, the U.S. has failed to defend its long held Cuban embargo policy at the U.N. as the General Assembly passed a resolution harshly criticizing U.S. foreign policy.  Instead of voting "no" as it had every time the resolution was introduced, U.N. ambassador Samantha Power abstained. The resolution, "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba," specifically criticized the 1996 Helms-Burton act that tied lifting the embargo with negotiations with the Cuban government to reimburse companies who had their property expropriated. It is extremely rare for a U.N. member state not to vote against a resolution that's highly criticial of its policies.  The non-binding vote was 196-0, with Israel and the U.S. abstaining. CNN: President Barack Obama is in favor of lifting the embargo entirely as part of the countries' rapprochement. But the US...(Read Full Post)