The UN spokesman admitted that security forces were mobilized to avoid altercations between US and Cuba delegations during the General Assembly. The Cuban minister accused the American ambassador of lying and tarnishing his country's honor.
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28/10/2026
by
Lusa
O spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General today admitted that the United Nations mobilized additional security forces to prevent the altercations between the representations of the United States and Cuba from getting out of hand during the General Assembly.
On Tuesday, during the intervention of the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, rose from his seat and went to the gallery, where Waltz was, to accuse him, in shouting, of lying and tarnishing the honor of his country.
The President of the UN General Assembly, Khalilur Rahman, threatened to suspend the session and interrupted the intervention of the US ambassador on three occasions so that the Cuban minister could deliver the reprimands, as provided for in the regulation of the body.
In statements to journalists today, António Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson, said that “all delegations are expected to respect the decorum of the General Assembly room and comply with its regulations”.
In today’s session, before the vote, Waltz accused the Cuban delegation of “aggressing a U.S. diplomat.”.
“ This conduct violates the host country's agreement, and this alleged diplomat will be repatriated to Havana today. It is unacceptable,” said the US representative, before warning of consequences if any member of the Cuban delegation “comes to touch” a U.S. diplomat.
Dujarric claimed to have heard Waltz's intervention, but ensured that he did not have first-hand information that could confirm the alleged expulsion.
During the moment of the inflamed declarations a proposal put forward by Havana was being discussed, which advocates the end of the “economic, commercial and financial blockade” of Washington to the Caribbean island.
This resolution, submitted annually since 1992, was adopted with 130 votes in favour (including Portugal), 30 against and 25 abstentions.
At the UN headquarters, Rodríguez challenged the United States, which denied the existence of a blockade against the island, and said that the US embargo causes economic losses of more than $22.9 million in a single day (about EUR 20.5 million to the current exchange rate).
Rodríguez presented a real-time accountant of the economic impact that, according to the Cuban Government, the US embargo causes.
The accountant began to operate on Tuesday, coinciding with the beginning of the debate in the General Assembly on the resolution against these sanctions.
“The blockade kills and silently punishes our population as never before,” the minister said during the intervention.
During his speech on Tuesday, Waltz denied the existence of an American blockade against Havana and called on the Member States to reject the text presented by Cuba.
Rodríguez warned that the administration led by Republican President Donald Trump “has triggered a wave of pressure, intimidation and blackmail” against other UN members to get the text rejected.
The head of Cuban diplomacy classified the embargo as “an act of war, of collective punishment and of genocide” and lamented the “extremely serious consequences” that fell on his people.