Argentinian President Javier Milei again called for the end of the Cuban regime this Wednesday, this time from the year's most prominent diplomatic stage, the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In statements to reporters, Milei was emphatic: "Cuba must be free; that bloody dictatorship must come to an end."
The phrase, captured in a 17-second video released by Martí Noticias, was made on the same day the Argentine president delivered his speech to the General Assembly, which focused on the claim of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, criticisms of the organization's functioning, and Argentina's positioning as a hub for artificial intelligence development.
Milei's words come a day after U.S. President Donald Trump described Cuba before the same Assembly as a “completely failed state” and predicted that the regime will “fall.”
The Cuban delegation responded to Trump by walking out of the room in protest, while the foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla dismissed his statements as “falsehoods” and “slander”.
Also this Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Milei in New York and, following the meeting, declared that "our hemisphere is safer thanks to our close cooperation." Rubio also addressed the Cuban regime with a direct message: "You have an opportunity."
Milei's stance on Cuba is not new or improvised. In September 2024, during the 79th General Assembly, he referred to Cuba and Venezuela as "bloody dictatorships" and demanded their exclusion from the UN Human Rights Council.
In June of this year, Milei predicted that Cuba "will fall on its own" and offered to "gift" something to the regime. Weeks later, in July, he popularized the phrase "If you don't like it, go to Cuba" during a public exchange in Buenos Aires.
Argentina has also voted against the annual UN resolution condemning the U.S. embargo on the island, aligning itself with Washington in its pressure on Havana.
The statement made this Wednesday thus strengthens a growing front of Western leaders who, in the most visible multilateral setting of the year, demand the end of the Cuban government at a time of unprecedented diplomatic isolation for the regime in Havana.
Filed under: