The United States representative to the UN for Management and Reform, Jeff Bartos, responded firmly this Friday to the Cuban diplomat Ernesto Soberón Guzmán after a public exchange on X that escalated the already tense confrontation between both delegations in the General Assembly.
Soberón had labeled it a "cheap novel" the book The Double Life of Fidel Castro that Bartos ostensibly read on Wednesday while Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla delivered his speech before the General Assembly. The Cuban diplomat ironically advised the American to spend his time educating himself with the Assembly’s rules and the UN delegate’s manual instead of reading "cheap novels."
Bartos wasted no time in responding with a direct message: "Errors? The entire 67-year communist experiment has been a colossal mistake. Power outages. Lines for bread. Over 800 political prisoners. Millions fleeing Cuba while the communist elite — like you — live like kings. Your leader just presided over his worst vote at the UN in 20 years. The only fiction here is that communism works."
The book in question was written by Juan Reinaldo Sánchez, Fidel Castro's former personal bodyguard for 17 years, alongside French journalist Axel Gyldén, and was published in 2015. The work documents a private life that is radically opposed to the austere image Castro projected: more than 20 residences, four yachts, a hunting preserve, and exclusive use of Cayo Piedra, a private island with a floating restaurant and a dolphinarium.
Bartos himself had recommended the book hours earlier on X: "It's a great read. Learn all about the private island of the Cuban regime and its immense wealth from Castro's bodyguard for 17 years."
The exchange is the final episode of a week of unprecedented confrontations between both delegations. On Monday, Ambassador Michael Waltz presented to the General Assembly photographs of Rolex watches attributed to Castro — valued at around 40,000 dollars, equivalent to approximately 55 years of the average Cuban salary — along with Hermès ties and Montblanc pens attributed to Díaz-Canel, and images of a property owned by the Castro family in Varadero measuring around 14,000 square meters.
During the same session, Rodríguez physically advanced toward the podium while Waltz was speaking and shouted, "You are a liar!" to which Waltz replied, "This is America. Step back." The President of the General Assembly, Khalilur Rahman, briefly suspended the session.
The next day, the Cuban diplomat Richard Tur de la Concepción was expelled from the United States after attempting to snatch the phone from Waltz's spokesperson during the altercation.
The context of Bartos' response to Soberón is significant: the reference to the "worst vote in 20 years" refers to the outcome of the annual vote on the embargo held on Wednesday, when the resolution calling for its end received only 130 votes in favor, compared to 165 in 2025 and 187 in 2024, with 17 votes against and 25 abstentions: the worst result for Havana since it began presenting this initiative in 1992.
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