Guyana’s failure to cast a vote during a crucial United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) debate on the decades-old United States embargo against Cuba has triggered questions about the country’s foreign policy direction and drawn criticism from one of its senior statesmen.

The procedural vote, held on Tuesday, determined whether the General Assembly would proceed with a second debate on the “necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”

The motion passed comfortably, with 136 countries voting in favour, nine against and 30 abstaining. Guyana was among the member states recorded as not voting.