The Cuban delegation participating in the UN General Assembly left the plenary hall on Tuesday while President Donald Trump called Cuba an "absolutely failed state" and predicted that the communist regime "will fall."
The episode occurred during Trump's speech at the 81st General Assembly in New York, marking the first time the president made statements of this magnitude from the world's highest multilateral forum with the Cuban delegation present in the room.
"My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba, where the communist regime is under enormous pressure, the greatest it has ever faced. It is an absolutely failed state. It is failing like never before and will fall," Trump stated before representatives of the nations gathered at the UN headquarters.
The official also revealed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is actively engaging with Havana: "Marco Rubio is conducting negotiations and is deeply involved in discussions with Cuba. We'll see what happens."
This statement contrasts with what the Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla declared at the beginning of September, when he denied that there are formal negotiations with Washington and described the channels of contact between the two governments as "stalled."
The regime's reaction to the president's speech was immediate: the physical abandonment of the room, as is customary in various forums where the Havana government has been challenged.
Rodríguez Parrilla later stated on X that Washington "is incapable of accepting that Cuba is, and has the right to be, a fully independent and sovereign country," and added that "none of the falsehoods of the U.S. President at the UN and no slander can or will deny this fact."
Trump's speech comes amid a sustained escalation of pressure on Havana: the administration has imposed more than two dozen rounds of sanctions against Cuba since January 2026, including measures against military entities and the nickel sector announced just days before the speech.
The economic crisis facing the island exacerbates this situation: according to CEPAL, Cuban GDP is expected to contract by 10.3% in 2026, marking the worst decline in Latin America, with blackouts lasting up to 22 hours a day and an annual inflation rate of 20.70% recorded in July.
Rodríguez Parrilla is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Friday, September 26, during which the Cuban regime will provide its official response to Trump's speech.
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