The permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, was at the center of a moment that quickly went viral on social media this Saturday: his interview with CBS News correspondent Matt Gutman attracted attention not so much for the diplomatic message he was trying to convey, but for the pronunciation with which he delivered it.
The diplomat shared the clip on his Twitter account with the intention of spreading the Cuban regime's stance on Washington's sanctions. However, what caught users' attention was his command of English, which triggered a wave of mockery and immediate comparisons to the famous linguistic blunders of President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The most circulated comment on social media was striking: "This one had the same teacher as Díaz-Canel."
In the video, Soberón stated: "The Cuban people is suffering a collective punishment. This is the only way that I can describe what my people is suffering right now." The grammatical construction — "is suffering" instead of the standard "are suffering," repeated twice in a matter of seconds — did not go unnoticed by those who are proficient in the language.
The ambassador also stated: "Our main challenge today is the lack of oil. And the lack of oil is a direct result of the executive order signed by President Trump on January 29, 2026," attributing the island's energy crisis to the executive order that declared a national emergency regarding Cuba and established a mechanism for punitive tariffs against countries that sell oil to it.
The comparison with Díaz-Canel has well-documented precedents. In December 2022, during a visit to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the leader pronounced "love" in a way that Cubans transcribed as "loss" or "lost," sparking dozens of memes within a few hours.
Months later, in August 2023, Díaz-Canel became the target of jokes again during a ceremony in Namibia, where he used "resist" instead of "receive," sparking another round of mocking on social media.
The interview this Saturday is part of an intense media campaign that Soberón has launched throughout 2026 with widely-reaching American outlets, from Bloomberg and The New York Times to Fox News and Agence France-Presse, always making the same argument: that Washington's sanctions amount to collective punishment of the Cuban people.
What the diplomat omits in each appearance is that the energy crisis the island is experiencing is the result of 67 years of dictatorial rule, not of external pressure measures. Cuba has been relying on oil subsidies from allies like Venezuela for decades, a structural dependence that no executive order has created.
This is not the first controversial episode involving Soberón in 2026. In July, he called the representative of Israel "shameless" during a General Assembly debate on the embargo against Cuba, and in May he stated to the New York Times that Havana was willing to negotiate "everything" with the United States, with no taboo subjects.
The irony of this Saturday's episode is that the Cuban regime sends its main spokesperson to defend its cause in English before the American audience, and the result ends up being more fodder for mockery than for persuasion.
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