The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, responded this Monday to the criticisms from the Cuban representative Ernesto Soberón Guzmán regarding the celebration of an event dedicated to denouncing the repression and human rights violations in Cuba.
"If it bothers you that we give a voice to Cubans to talk about all this, how about you stop doing those things? Then we will stop talking about them," Waltz stated in a video posted on his official X account.
The American diplomat assured that Soberón was "quite upset" about the meeting "Cuba Libre: The Oppression That Havana Hides," organized this Monday by the Washington mission at the UN headquarters in New York.
According to his explanation, the event brought together Cuban political prisoners, human rights defenders, and experts on corruption and forced labor, including specialists on the conditions of the medical missions that the regime sends abroad.
Waltz also questioned the privileges of Cuban leaders in the face of the hardships that the population is experiencing.
In particular, he raised the question of why millions of Cubans are suffering from fuel shortages and blackouts while, as he denounced, members of the ruling elite enjoy private jets, a private island, and luxury residences with guaranteed electricity supply.
"The Cuban regime tries to blame others for its failures, but the reality is clear: corruption, human rights abuses, and repression are the true roots of Cuba's problems," wrote the ambassador.
On its part, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations stated that the aim of the meeting was to highlight the abuses of the regime and support the Cubans who have suffered repression.
Waltz's statements come after Soberón described the activity as a "political motivation maneuver" and questioned whether Washington was using United Nations facilities to promote its agenda against the Cuban government.
The confrontation between the two diplomats is not new. Over the weekend, Waltz responded to Soberón's criticisms of Marco Rubio, reminding him that the Cuban regime had persecuted his own family.
The new confrontation occurs just over a week before the annual vote by the General Assembly on the resolution calling for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba, scheduled for October 27 and 28.
Washington has intensified its efforts to reduce international support for that resolution, while Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla accuses Secretary of State Marco Rubio of applying "pressure" and "blackmail" on other governments.
In 2025, the document received 165 favorable votes, compared to the 187 obtained in 2024, while seven countries voted against and 12 abstained.
The debate on human rights also coincides with new allegations regarding the situation of political prisoners. According to the latest monthly report from Prisoners Defenders, Cuba ended September with 1,351 political prisoners, including 40 individuals who were detained when they were minors.
In July, Waltz had already presented photographs and names of Cuban political prisoners to the United Nations, including artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo "Osorbo", during a speech that sparked protests from the Havana delegation.
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