SAN SALVADOR, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Salvadorian Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez said on Thursday that his country will vote for the lifting of the decades-long U.S. sanctions against Cuba at the General Assembly of the United Nations.

    "There is going to be a change. President Mauricio Funes has decided that we are going to join most of the countries which in previous years have voted in favor of a resolution condemning the embargo against Cuba," Martinez said.

    The UN General Assembly opened its 64th session on Tuesday at the UN Headquarters in New York, as world leaders are set to gather here in the next few days for a string of summits on pressing global challenges.

    After reestablishing diplomatic ties with Cuba on June 1, when Funes took office, El Salvador has adopted a new foreign policy toward Cuba, considering "the economic embargo (against Cuba) inappropriate."

    "We believe that it is necessary that El Salvador joins the international voices. Most of more than 170 countries are voting for ending the embargo against Cuba, so this will be an important change of our participation in the UN," Martinez said.

    Since the victory of the Cuban revolution in 1959, the United States has invariably adopted a hostile policy toward Cuba. Washington severed relations with Havana in 1961 and has imposed economic blockade and restrictive measures against trade with Cuba since 1962.

    However, U.S. President Barack Obama, who took office in January, has said his administration wants to engage with Cuba and ease some sanctions.