Press Release From The PNP - November 3, 2026
Opposition Leader Golding gives background
Notice of Motion
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOTICE OF MOTION
Censure of the Government for failing to disclose to this
Honourable House a change in Jamaica's longstanding policy on the United States
embargo against Cuba
Moved by: G. Anthony Hylton, Member of Parliament for St.
Andrew Western
Seconded by: Phillip Paulwell, Member of Parliament for
East Kingston & Port Royal
WHEREAS for more than three decades Jamaica has voted in
the United Nations General Assembly in favour of the annual resolution calling
for an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the
United States of America against Cuba, and that policy has enjoyed the support
of both sides of this Honourable House;
AND WHEREAS this Honourable House, through its annual
debate on the matter, has given the people of Jamaica, through their elected
representatives, the opportunity to examine and affirm that policy;
AND WHEREAS on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, the Minister of
State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade moved, and this
Honourable House approved without dissent, a Resolution on the economic and
humanitarian situation in Cuba;
AND WHEREAS at no time during the debate did the Minister
of State, or any other Member of the Government, inform this Honourable House
that the Government was considering a change in Jamaica's vote at the United
Nations;
AND WHEREAS on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, the day after
the Resolution was approved, Jamaica abstained for the first time on the United
Nations resolution, and the Permanent Representative of Jamaica delivered a
prepared explanation of that vote;
AND WHEREAS on 28 October 2026 the Minister of Foreign
Affairs and Foreign Trade publicly acknowledged that the abstention was "a
shift in policy" on which the Government had "been reflecting 
. for some time", which
establishes that the change was under consideration when the Resolution was
moved and debated in this House;
AND WHEREAS the Government, while citing the deficiencies
of the United Nations resolution as its reason for abstaining, made no known
approach to the Government of Cuba, as sponsor of that resolution, and proposed
no amendment in the General Assembly to secure the changes it now says were
required;
AND WHEREAS by withholding its intention the
Government denied this Honourable House the opportunity to debate a fundamental
change in Jamaica's foreign policy before it was made, and caused the House to
approve the Resolution on an incomplete and misleading basis;
BE IT
RESOLVED that this Honourable House:
1. Censures
the Government for failing to disclose to this House, during the debate on the
Resolution of 27 October 2026, the change in Jamaica's long-standing policy
that it was then considering, and thereby misleading the House;
2. Calls
on the Government to make a full statement to this House, within seven days of
the passing of this Resolution, setting out— (a) when, and by whom, the
decision to abstain was taken; (b) when instructions were sent to the Permanent
Mission of Jamaica to the United Nations, and when the explanation of vote was
prepared and approved; and (c) whether any approach was made to the Government
of Cuba, or any amendment proposed, before the vote and, if so, when and in
what terms;
3. Calls
on the Government to apologise to this Honourable House; and
4. Affirms
that, where this House is considering a motion on a matter of foreign policy,
the Government has a duty to disclose to the House any change in that policy
which it is then contemplating.
Submitted
by: G. Anthony
Date: 2nd November, 2026
Opposition PNP Press Conference
Anthony Hylton's Statement
Censure motion on the UN Cuba vote
Good evening, and thank you for coming.
You were invited here to hear why the Opposition has taken the serious step of moving a motion of censure against the Government.
Let me be clear at the outset: this motion is not a quarrel about Cuba. Reasonable people may differ on how Jamaica should vote at the United Nations. This is about Parliament, and about whether a Government may ask the people's House to speak on foreign policy while hiding from it the one thing that matters.
Here are the facts.
On Tuesday, 27 October, the Government brought a resolution on Cuba to the House of Representatives. The House approved it without dissent. Cuba's Ambassador was invited to hear the debate. Not one word was said to the House or to her, about any change in Jamaica's policy or vote.
The next morning, Jamaica abstained at the United Nations, for the first time in more than three decades. The explanation of that vote had been written in advance. And that same day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs told the country that the Government had been "reflecting on this issue for some time."
For some time. The Government knew on Tuesday what it would do on Wednesday, and it chose not to tell Parliament.
The Minister says the House did not instruct the Government how to vote. That is true, but it misses the point. We do not say Parliament directed the vote. We say Parliament was entitled to know. A House can be misled not only by what is said, but by what is left unsaid.
The Government also let a friendly Ambassador leave our Parliament believing Jamaica's support was unchanged. And while it says it abstained because the resolution could not be amended, there is no sign it approached Havana as the sponsor of the resolution or proposed a single amendment at the UN.
Nearly twenty years ago I moved the first resolution in our Parliament in support of the UN call to end the embargo; to my knowledge, it remains the first such in any CARICOM or developingcountry parliament. It has been carried across party lines ever since. So yes, I feel aggrieved, and I feel betrayed, as do many Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora.
Today the motion was tabled. It asks the House to censure the Government; to require it, within seven days, to say when and by whom the decision was taken, when instructions went to New York, and whether Cuba was ever approached; to apologise to the House; and to affirm that Parliament must be told when a foreign policy it is asked to consider is about to change.
Let me end where I began. The question is not whether you agree with the abstention. It is whether any Government should ask Parliament to vote without telling it the whole story. On that, Jamaica deserves an answer, and an apology.
Thank you.
Question For The Prime Minister
In accordance with SO 17B, I ask the Hon. Prime Minister the following Questions of Urgent public policy:
1) When and by whom was the decision made to abstain from the vote on UN Resolution A/81/L.5 entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States of
America against Cuba” that was taken on 28th October 2026;
2) When were instructions sent/given to the Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the United Nations consequent on the decision to abstain, and when was the explanation of the vote provided by the Ambassador to the UN prepared and approved;
3) Was any approach made to the Government of Cuba by or on behalf of Jamaican authorities concerning any proposed amendment to the said UN resolution before the vote and, if so, when and in what terms?
Submitted by: G. Anthony Hylton, CD, MP
Western St. Andrew
Dated: 3rd November, 2026
_____________________
Click here and learn about the exciting gadget, Alexa. Learn how to turn on your house lights using your phone from anywhere in the world. Purchase an Alexa today.
______________________
______________________
Keep abreast of the news and information in the world. Bark Di Trute, a Jamaican blog, is packed with accurate information. Click the following link and get information at your fingertips. WhatsApp link is:
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
Subscribe Now!
Without your support, Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.
You can view the blog on your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.
_____________________
