UNITED NATIONS -- The UN General Assembly, for the 11th consecutive year, voted on Tuesday for an end to the four-decade U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, with Havana accusing the Bush administration of rigidity.

The vote was 173-3 with four abstentions, the highest vote yet in favor of Cuba in the assembly. Those opposing the resolution, in addition to the United States, were Israel and the Marshall Islands, Reuters reported.

Nations abstaining were Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Malawi and Uzbekistan. Others in the 191-seat General Assembly were either absent or unable to vote because of payment debts.

The United States imposed a trade embargo on Cuba after President Fidel Castro swept to power in 1959. But in 2000, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation that eased some restrictions to allow cash sales of food and medicine to the island.

Ricardo Alarcon, Cuba's National Assembly president and former foreign minister, said despite support in the United States for an easing or complete lift of the embargo, President George W. Bush and his congressional allies killed any legislation aimed at modifying the current policy.

Those opposing the embargo "must still contend with the stubborn opposition of a powerful minority," he said referring to exile groups in Miami.

The 15 members of the European Union all voted in favor of the nonbinding resolution because of U.S. laws that seek to prevent foreign firms from having commercial dealings with communist Cuba.

More than 25 speakers, led by Mexico, said the unilateral embargo violated international law, damaged the Cuba economy and was a violation of the UN charter.

The resolution, as in previous years, referred to the 1996 Helms-Burton act that allowed U.S. citizens who were Cuban nationals before the 1959 revolution to file suit in U.S. courts against foreign companies or individuals who "traffic" in expropriated property.

U.S. envoy Sichan Siv said the resolution was "misguided" and disputed allegations the United State prohibited nations from trading with Cuba, saying that Havana exported $1 billion worth of goods from abroad.

"U.S. policy is to foster a rapid, peaceful transition to a democratic form of government ... where human rights are protected," he told the assembly.