The Cuban chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla attempted to interrupt on two occasions this Tuesday the intervention of the United States Ambassador to the United Nations for Administration and Reform, Jeffrey Bartos, as he denounced the blackouts in Cuba and the situation of over 800 political prisoners on the island.
In both cases, the presidency of the General Assembly rejected the objections and allowed the American diplomat to continue his speech.
The tense exchange took place during an extraordinary session held in New York to decide whether the General Assembly would open a debate on the U.S. embargo against Cuba.
Bartos took advantage of his intervention to question the humanitarian situation on the island amidst the new collapse of the National Electric Energy System (SEN).
"Wherever there are a few generators running on that island, I assure you that they are not powering the cells of political prisoners. They are not powering the refrigerators of Cuban families. They are not powering a hospital room full of patients waiting for medication, oxygen, or surgery," he stated.
The statements prompted an immediate reaction from Rodríguez Parrilla, who requested a point of order for the session president to call the American representative to order.
"I am surprised that the presidency of the assembly has not called the delegate from the United States of America to order, as he is making a substantive intervention that in no way pertains to procedural matters. I ask you to call him to order," he claimed.
The presidency rejected the request and reminded the Cuban chancellor that Article 71 of the regulations prevents using a motion of order to discuss the substance of the issue. Immediately afterward, they gave the floor back to Bartos.
Minutes later, Rodríguez interrupted the speech again with a second protest, which met the same fate.
Far from moderating his speech, Bartos took the floor again to intensify his criticisms of the Cuban regime.
"Do the more than 800 political prisoners in their cells have electricity? Do they have fans? Do they have phones? Do they have light to read, write, pray, or simply survive?" he asked before the Assembly.
The American diplomat asserted that the real embargo faced by Cubans is not the one imposed by Washington, but rather the one that, in his opinion, is enforced by the regime itself.
"That is the true embargo on Cuba. It is not the one that Havana wants to claim exists. It is the embargo that the regime imposes on its own people: on freedom of expression, on faith, on entrepreneurial initiative, on dissent, on political rights, and on hope, and now, literally, on light," he stated.
Bartos also criticized the cost of the session, estimated at around $84,000, arguing that this amount could have fed 3,500 Cuban children for a month, purchased more than 1,600 solar lanterns for families without electricity, or covered over 400 years of the average annual salary of a worker on the island.
He also accused the Cuban government of calling the meeting "to create content" instead of addressing the crisis facing the country, and urged the delegations to vote against opening the debate.
Despite Washington's opposition, the General Assembly approved the debate with 136 in favor, nine against —including the United States, Argentina, and Israel— and 30 abstentions.
During his subsequent speech, Rodríguez Parrilla denounced what he termed a "multidimensional, unconventional war" against Cuba and accused the United States of maintaining an "energy blockade equivalent to a naval blockade," through sanctions and pressures on the vessels supplying fuel to the island, he wrote on his X social media account.
The verbal confrontation occurred as Cuba faces its third total collapse of the National Electric System in 2026. The blackout began on Monday, when generation fell to create a deficit close to 2,230 MW against a demand of about 3,100 MW, causing another nationwide power outage.
Tuesday's session had an extraordinary character and was called at the request of the Cuban government, separate from the traditional annual vote on the embargo, scheduled for October 27.
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