The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla used his turn at the UN General Assembly to respond to the American Ambassador Mike Waltz with a gallery of images depicting blackouts in Havana, families in the dark, operating rooms lit by mobile phones, and humanitarian aid in ox-drawn carts, attributing each scene to the "energy blockade by the United States."
The speech came one day after the Assembly approved an urgent debate on the embargo with 136 votes in favor, nine against, and 30 abstentions, and following the session in which Waltz displayed photographs of Cuban political prisoners and questioned how the regime has access to a private jet while hospitals operate without electricity.
Rodríguez began ironically, stating that the U.S. team "would have deserved a red card," and announced his desire to join Waltz's "photo gallery."
"This photo is dramatic, Mr. President. It shows an operating room being lit by a mobile phone flashlight. This is due to the energy blockade by the United States of America," he declared before the assembly.
What the chancellor omitted is that the Cuban energy crisis has structural causes recognized even by engineers from the regime itself: three decades of investment delays and lack of maintenance, with the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant accumulating 17 disconnections in 2026 without any capital maintenance since 2010.
The third total collapse of the electrical system in 2026 —the seventh in 18 months— occurred on July 6 and 7, with a generation deficit exceeding 2,200 MW against a demand of 3,100 MW, and served as the backdrop for the entire session in New York.
To counter Waltz's accusations of repression, Rodríguez displayed images of raids conducted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the United States, including the detention of a five-year-old boy identified as Liam Conejo Ramos.
"You will not find in Cuba an image similar to this of violent repression against protesters," he stated, in a comparison that ignores the regime's repression against the demonstrators of July 11, 2021, and the hundreds of political prisoners who remain incarcerated.
In response to Waltz's criticisms regarding corruption, the chancellor described Trump's administration as "a true plutocracy, due to institutional and legal corruption, the presence of so-called special interests, and million-dollar electoral campaigns."
Rodríguez also invited Waltz to read the statements from the White House spokesperson on March 30 and from the U.S. president the day before, which he claimed confirm the “total blockade of hydrocarbons,” and dismissed the criticisms of the Cuban medical cooperation program, stating that they offend the 50 recipient countries present in the room.
In a tone of personal disdain, he said to the ambassador: "Mr. Waltz, soon no one will know who you are."
Regarding Raúl Castro, he assured that the former dictator "is still with one foot in the stirrup, ready to ride in defense of our homeland."
Rodríguez closed with a quote from General Antonio Maceo: "Whoever tries to take Cuba will only harvest the dust of its blood-soaked soil, unless they perish in the struggle."
The outcome of the debate — 136 votes in favor — was significantly lower than the 165 obtained by Cuba in October 2025, reflecting the impact of the diplomatic pressure documented in a leaked cable from Secretary Marco Rubio published by The Nation on July 2, 2026.
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