US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz has shouted “Back up!” at Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez during a heated confrontation at the General Assembly over Washington’s blockade of the island. The Cuban diplomat accused Waltz of spreading “crude lies” to justify US “economic aggression.”
During the UNGA session on Tuesday, Waltz dedicated his speech to allegations of corruption among the Cuban leadership, pointing to what he called their collection of luxury watches, real estate, and yachts as well as their relatives’ holidays in Europe. While ordinary Cubans “are starving,” the US blockade and embargo of the island “does not exist” and “doesn’t apply to luxury goods” that “somehow get through to the Cuban regime elites,” he claimed.
His words drew loud condemnation from the Cuban delegation led by Rodriguez as the diplomats clapped and knocked on their desks in protest against Waltz’s speech.
The foreign minister also interrupted the US diplomat’s speech by requesting urgent intervention and delivered his own remarks, in which he accused the American envoy of lying in a “rude and arrogant manner” and “violating the dignity of the General Assembly” with his words.
Rodriguez then approached the podium and engaged in a heated argument with Waltz. In a video posted on X by the US envoy, Waltz can be heard urging the General Assembly president to make the Cuban minister “back away from this podium,” insisting that he would not allow Rodriguez to “intimidate” him on US territory. He then shouted: “I’m the representative of the United States of America! Back up! […] Do you understand who you are dealing with?! Back up!”
The American envoy also posted a host of videos on social media, detailing the incident and accusing those he called Cuban “so-called ‘diplomats’” and “regime thugs” of “melting down at the first hint of criticism.”
Rodriguez subsequently addressed the General Assembly, accusing Waltz of lying in a “rude and arrogant manner” and “violating the dignity of the General Assembly” with his remarks.
He later shared on X a cartoon depicting the confrontation at the UN with the words “Gringo mentiroso” (“Lying gringo”) above the two diplomats. He captioned the post: “Cuba is not a threat. The blockade is.”
In a separate post, Rodriguez “denounced the economic war that the United States is waging against Cuba with aims of domination and “regime change"." Rodriguez blasted the continued blockade as an “act of war” and “genocide prohibited by the International Law.” He also shared the results of the vote, where he said it was rejected by a “large majority” of the nations.
A resolution condemning the US embargo of Cuba was supported by 130 countries, including Russia, China, India, and even several US allies such as Canada, France and the UK. It was opposed by 17 nations, including the US, Israel, and Ukraine, with 25 nations abstaining.
US President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Havana since the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Trump has since repeatedly stated that Cuba would be “next” as his administration imposed a near-total energy blockade against the island nation.
The restrictions contributed to severe energy shortages on the island. Cuba has entered its worst economic crisis in decades, marked not only by prolonged blackouts but also food shortages. Last month, Trump described Cuba as an “absolutely failed state” and “a haven for foreign adversaries” on America’s doorstep.
Moscow and Beijing have expressed solidarity with Cuba in the face of American pressure. Russia has been among the countries providing relief to Cuba, delivering around 700,000 barrels of oil in March. China also said in late September it would support Cuba in “safeguarding its national sovereignty” and pursuing a “development path suited to its national conditions.”
In mid-October, the US issued an arrest warrant for former Cuban President Raul Castro, 95, accusing him of ordering an attack on two American planes operated by anti-Communist Cuban exiles off the island’s coast in 1996. The warrant followed a separate federal indictment brought against Castro and five others in May. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned the case as a “political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation” and accused Washington of creating a pretext for a military intervention.
Moscow has condemned the accusations against the former Cuban leader as “groundless” and “contrived,” calling it a “revenge” by the anti-Cuban lobby.