Mike Waltz, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, confronted the Cuban regime at the General Assembly with a question that echoed throughout the hall: if there is no fuel for hospitals and food for the people, how is it that there is fuel for the private jet of the Castro family, and how can President Díaz-Canel afford a Hermès tie, a Rolex watch, and a Montblanc pen?
The speech took place this Tuesday during an extraordinary session called by the Cuban regime to discuss the American embargo, precisely while Cuba was experiencing its third total collapse of the National Electric System in 2026, which began on July 6 with a deficit of up to 2,230 MW.
"Sadly, Cuba is once again in the dark. There's a new blackout across the entire island. What a surprise: there's always light and electricity for the regime, for the dictatorship. Right now, there is electricity in the Castro family's complex," stated Waltz before the delegates gathered in New York.
The ambassador was straightforward in pointing out the contradiction between the misery of the people and the privileges of the nomenclature: "How is it that there is fuel for the Castro family’s private jet? How is it that the president can afford a tie from Hermès, or his Rolex watch, or the Montblanc pen he uses to write? How is it that the Castro family can own 700 mansions on the island, in Costa del Sol, and in Moscow?"
Waltz also targeted the military conglomerate GAESA, which he claimed controls half of the Cuban economy and manages a trust fund of 18 billion dollars from which, he said, "not a cent goes to the Cuban people."
The ambassador also denounced that the regime sends doctors and nurses abroad while withholding their salaries—what he referred to as a "slave trade"—and that thousands of Cubans are forced to fight in Ukraine, with their wages going directly into the regime's coffers.
During the intervention, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla interrupted Waltz on two occasions with points of order that the Assembly's presidency rejected in both cases. In the first instance, Rodríguez called the U.S. diplomat a "liar" and stated that the UN "is not a green beret camp." His words were recorded in the session's minutes.
Waltz replied without backing down: "The truth is offensive, and the truth is not a lack of respect. I am very sorry that the Cuban delegation does not want to hear this."
The ambassador displayed photographs of political prisoners before the Assembly and read their names aloud: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Fernando Almadévez Rivera, Miguel Castillo Pérez, Duanes León Tovero —sentenced to 14 years— and the brothers Jorge and Martín Perdomo. "They are not violent, they do not carry weapons. What they have are flowers and they write poetry and songs," he said.
Waltz recalled that this month marks the fifth anniversary of the protests on July 11, 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets and the regime responded by incarcerating 800 of its own citizens.
Regarding the central argument of the regime, he was emphatic: blaming the United States is the only economic plan left for Havana. "The only embargo is the guillotine that the regime holds over the heads of its own citizens," he stated.
The General Assembly approved the urgent debate with 136 votes in favor, nine against, and 30 abstentions, a significantly lower backing compared to the 165 votes that Cuba received in the annual vote in October 2025, the worst record in over three decades.
"The world does not have to help the Cuban government hide its greed, corruption, and incompetence. The Cuban people have the right to freedom," concluded Waltz before the Assembly.
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