The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, launched a strong attack against the Cuban regime this Tuesday during an extraordinary session of the General Assembly convened at the request of Havana, summarizing the island's government's strategy in one phrase: "Blaming the United States is the only economic plan that Havana has; it’s all they have left."
The session discussed the initiation of a formal debate on the U.S. embargo, but Waltz reversed the argument from the outset: "There has been much discussion about the blockade today, and indeed there is a blockade before us: the blockade that the Cuban regime ruthlessly imposes on its own people, decade after decade."
The speech came as Cuba was experiencing its third total collapse of the electrical system in 2026, which began on Monday with a generation deficit of 2,230 MW against a demand of 3,100 MW.
Waltz did not miss the irony: "What a surprise: there always seems to be light and electricity for the regime, for the dictatorship. Right now, there is electricity in the Castro family's complex; there, there is definitely light."
The ambassador asked in front of the UN General Assembly how it is possible that there is no fuel for hospitals but there is for the Castro family's private jet, and how the Cuban president can afford an Hermès tie, a Rolex watch, or a Montblanc pen.
He also reported that GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls nearly 70% of the Cuban economy, manages a trust fund of 18 billion dollars from which "not a cent goes to the Cuban people."
Waltz named several political prisoners in front of delegates from around the world: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, imprisoned for "artistic expression"; Fernando Almadévez Rivera, a musician jailed for writing songs that call for freedom; Miguel "Osorbo" Castillo Pérez, a rapper in maximum security prison; Duanes León Tovero, a poet sentenced to 14 years; and the brothers Jorge and Martín Perdomo, whose detention has been condemned by the UN itself. "They are not violent, they do not carry weapons. What they bring are flowers and they write poetry and songs, and that is why the regime tries to silence them by putting them in jail," he stated.
The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla interrupted the American diplomat twice with points of order that the Assembly's presidency rejected in both cases.
In the first intervention, Rodríguez called Waltz a "liar" and told him that the UN "is not a green beret camp," comments that were recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
Waltz also questioned the narrative of the "total blockade," pointing out that ships carrying 500 million dollars in goods leave Florida ports for Cuba, and that countries such as China, Russia, Spain, Mexico, and even the UN have sent humanitarian aid to the island without any hindrance.
“There is no American blockade. The only embargo is the guillotine that the regime holds over the heads of its own citizens,” he concluded.
He also reported that thousands of Cubans are forced to fight in Ukraine, with their salaries going "directly to the regime," and referred to the deployment of doctors abroad as a "slave trade," where the government retains their wages and threatens the families of the workers.
Waltz concluded his speech with a direct appeal to the delegates: "The world does not need to help the Cuban government hide its greed, corruption, and incompetence. The time has come to make a decision."
Despite Washington's opposition, the General Assembly approved the opening of the debate with 136 votes in favor, nine against, and 30 abstentions, although this outcome is significantly lower than the 165 votes Cuba received in the annual vote in October 2025, marking the worst record in over three decades.
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