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Miguel Díaz-Canel took advantage of an extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly this Tuesday to share a conciliatory message towards Washington on his social media, stating that Cuba "holds no animosity towards any country or people, including the United States."
The Cuban leader published the message on Facebook and X in support of the speech delivered by Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla before the multilateral organization, where the head of Cuban diplomacy condemned the U.S. embargo as a "genocidal act" and a "collective punishment."
"We are a nation that loves and defends peace, dialogue, and multilateralism. We are not a threat to anyone," wrote Díaz-Canel.
The video accompanying the post encapsulates the regime's central argument: "Cuba is not a threat, the blockade is; the nation that is threatened is Cuba."
The session was convened by Havana under Agenda Item 38 of the General Assembly, dedicated to the need to put an end to the economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States.
The debate was approved with 136 votes in favor, nine against, and 30 abstentions.
Among the countries that voted against were the United States, Argentina, Israel, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Morocco, Paraguay, and Ukraine.
That support, although majority, represents a significant diplomatic setback for the regime: in the annual vote of October 2025, Cuba had obtained 165 votes in favor, the highest result in decades. The drop to 136 supports is the worst record in over thirty years and reflects the impact of the diplomatic campaign by the Trump administration.
Rodríguez Parrilla estimated the damages from the embargo at $8.103 billion between March 2025 and February 2026, and condemned what he referred to as an "energy siege" equivalent to a naval blockade.
During the session, the chancellor attempted to interrupt the U.S. ambassador Mike Waltz twice with points of order, even calling him a "liar," but the presidency of the Assembly rejected both objections.
Waltz did not yield. "The truth offends, and the truth is not a disrespect," replied the American diplomat.
In its statement, the United States condemned before the UN that more than 800 political prisoners remain detained in Cuba and that over 96,000 surgeries —including 11,000 for minors— have been postponed due to the energy collapse.
Díaz-Canel's pacifist tone contrasts sharply with his own statements made just five days earlier. In an interview with Sky News on July 2, the Cuban leader asserted, "We are not going to surrender our sovereignty... we are willing to fight to the last drop of blood."
That duality —a victim of the embargo in front of the world, a heroic resistance internally— defines the regime's communication strategy amidst the highest escalation of tensions with Washington in decades.
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has imposed more than 240 sanctions against Cuba, including personal measures against Díaz-Canel himself, his wife Lis Cuesta Peraza, and Alejandro Castro Espín.
The country is also experiencing its most severe energy crisis, with blackouts lasting over 20 hours a day and a generation deficit of up to 2,174 MW, worsened by the interruption of oil shipments from Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the suspension of Mexican sales due to fears of retaliation from Washington.
Uganda intervened in the session on behalf of the 121 states of the Non-Aligned Movement to demand the lifting of the embargo, while the Cuban regime sought to portray the outcome of the vote as a diplomatic victory, which, in numbers, tells a different story.
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