The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla stated on Tuesday before the UN General Assembly that "you will not find in Cuba a similar image of violent repression against demonstrators," while displaying photographs of operations by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The statement was made during the extraordinary session convened at the request of the Cuban regime to discuss the U.S. embargo, in response to the speech by U.S. Ambassador, Mike Waltz, who had shown images of Cuban political prisoners moments earlier and read their names aloud: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Osorbo, and Duannis León Taboada, a 24-year-old sentenced to 14 years in prison, among others.
Rodríguez's statement clashes directly with a well-documented reality. Following the protests on July 11, 2021—the largest in Cuba in decades—the regime detained more than 1,500 people.
Human Rights Watch documented beatings, torture, and closed trials with disproportionate sentences. As of May 2026, human rights organizations estimate 1,281 political prisoners on the Island, 338 of whom are still serving sentences related to the events of July 11th.
In his speech, Rodríguez showed images of blackouts in Havana, operating rooms illuminated with mobile phone flashlights, and ox-drawn carts distributing humanitarian aid, attributing it all to the "energy blockade by the United States."
The session took place precisely while Cuba was experiencing its third total blackout of the electrical system this year.
The chancellor also used real cases that occurred on U.S. territory to divert attention: he mentioned the child Lian Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old who was detained by ICE in January in Minneapolis and released ten days later by court order, and Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old American citizen who died during an ICE operation under controversial circumstances.
The speech included personal attacks on Waltz, whom he called an "insignificant official" and warned, "No one will know who you are in a little while."
Rodríguez also defended Raúl Castro, describing him as someone who "still has one foot in the stirrup, ready to ride in defense of our homeland," and announced that in a few weeks Cuba will celebrate the centenary of Fidel Castro.
Waltz did not remain silent. When Rodríguez tried to interrupt him with motions of order -which were rejected by the Assembly's presidency-, the ambassador responded: "He can do whatever he wants. This is not Havana; this is the United States of America and the United Nations. We will intervene and we will not allow ourselves to be silenced like you do with your people."
The U.S. official also accused the regime of imposing a real embargo on its own people, pointing out that the military conglomerate GAESA manages a fund of $18 billion without “a single cent reaching the Cuban people,” and asked: “How is it possible that there is no fuel for the hospitals, but there is for the Castro family's private jet?”
The debate was approved with 136 votes in favor, a significant decline from the 165 received in October 2025, marking Cuba's worst result in over three decades, which reflects the regime's growing diplomatic isolation on the international stage.
The five-year sentence of the artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara ended on Thursday, July 9, just two days after Rodríguez denied the existence of repression in Cuba before the world.
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