The Cuban opposition figure José Daniel Ferrer posted this Wednesday on Facebook, from the United Nations headquarters in New York, that the delegation from the Cuban regime has " behaved better today," attributing this change in attitude to the fear of facing new expulsions: "They fear being expelled and the end of the trickle of goods to Cuba."
The post is accompanied by a photograph in which Ferrer appears alongside the opposition figure Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat and the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, in front of a panel of international flags in the building of the multilateral organization.
Ferrer’s comment comes in the context of the second day of the annual General Assembly debate on the U.S. embargo against Cuba, and follows just one day after Washington expelled the first secretary of the Cuban Permanent Mission to the UN, Richard Tur de la Concepción, who was accused of trying to snatch the phone from the spokesperson of Waltz, J.P. Freire, and slapping him while he was recording a confrontation in the assembly.
On Tuesday, Waltz announced the measure on Fox News emphatically: "He's leaving. He'll be on a plane to Havana within the next 24 hours. If you lay a hand on an American here in the United States, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and I will not tolerate it."
On that same day, Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla had physically approached the podium where Waltz was speaking, which forced the President of the General Assembly, Khalilur Rahman, to briefly suspend the session and request that he return to his seat.
This Wednesday, with the Cuban delegation noticeably more restrained according to Ferrer's assessment, Rodríguez chose the podium to demand the immediate expulsion of Gutiérrez-Boronat, whom he labeled as a "terrorist" and "criminal," asserting that he is listed as number 52 on the Cuban list of individuals wanted internationally.
Gutiérrez-Boronat, Secretary General of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, attended the sessions as a guest of the U.S. delegation. He responded on Facebook with irony: "The chancellor of the dictatorship is calling for my expulsion from the United Nations, how proud. Cuba will be free."
Ferrer's reference to "junk" alludes to a widespread practice among Cuban diplomats stationed in the U.S.: the regular sending of goods to their families on the island, a privilege they would lose if expelled from the country.
The debate concluded with the vote on the annual resolution against the embargo, which recorded the worst historical result for Havana since Cuba began presenting it in 1992: 130 votes in favor, 17 against, and 25 abstentions, compared to 165 in favor in 2025 and 187 in 2024.
Despite the decline in support, the Cuban Foreign Ministry celebrated the outcome as a "victory." The resolution is not legally binding, and its approval does not change the embargo, the elimination of which depends solely on the U.S. Congress.
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