The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla defended Miguel Díaz-Canel on Wednesday before the UN General Assembly by stating that the Cuban leader, "unlike" American politicians, "will share the same fate as the rest of our people in the face of an imperialist aggression."
The statement was made during the extraordinary session convened by the Cuban regime to discuss the embargo, approved on Tuesday with 136 votes in favor, nine against, and 30 abstentions, in direct response to the speech by U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz.
Rodríguez also conveyed a message from Raúl Castro, assuring that the army general "is still with one foot in the stirrup, ready to ride in defense of our homeland," in reference to the remarks Waltz had made about the elderly leader during his speech.
The chancellor described Waltz as an "insignificant official" and warned him: "Mr. Waltz, no one will know who you are in a short time," while invoking the figure of Che Guevara and quoting the hero Antonio Maceo to conclude with a warning: "Anyone who tries to seize Cuba will only gather the dust of its soil drenched in blood, if they don't perish in the struggle."
Rodríguez showcased photographs of blackouts in Havana, operating rooms illuminated by mobile phone flashlights, and humanitarian aid distributed from ox-drawn carts, attributing all this to Washington's "energy siege" in an attempt to counter Waltz's criticisms regarding the situation in Cuba.
The session took place while the island was experiencing its third total collapse of the electrical system in 2026, with a deficit of 2,230 megawatts against a demand of 3,100 megawatts—a reality that the regime blames on U.S. sanctions but which is actually the result of decades of disinvestment and mismanagement.
Waltz, for his part, displayed photographs of Cuban political prisoners such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel «Osorbo» Castillo Pérez, and Duannis León Taboada, and denounced that the regime's business conglomerate GAESA manages a trust fund of 18 billion dollars from which "not a single cent reaches the Cuban people."
The U.S. ambassador also stated that the Castro family owns 700 mansions in Cuba, the Costa del Sol, and Moscow, and asked: "How is it possible that there is no fuel for hospitals, but there is for the Castro family's private jet?"
Rodríguez interrupted Waltz twice with motions for order, both rejected by the Assembly's presidency. In the first instance, he called him a "liar" and claimed that the UN "is not a green beret camp." Waltz calmly responded, "The truth hurts, and the truth is not a lack of respect."
The Cuban chancellor also announced that in a few weeks, Cuba will celebrate the centenary of Fidel Castro, scheduled for August 13, 2026, in Birán, and reaffirmed that "Cuba will never surrender its sovereignty and independence, for which its best children have already died."
The result of 136 votes in favor of the debate was significantly lower than the 165 obtained by the regime in the annual voting of October 2025, reflecting the partial effect of diplomatic pressure exerted by Washington: according to a leaked cable signed by Marco Rubio, the State Department instructed its embassies to block the opening of the debate at the UN.
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