Mike Waltz and Bruno Rodríguez clash at UN as embargo resolution vote nears

The exchange on the floor

On Tuesday, 27 October, the US and Cuban delegations clashed during the General Assembly debate on the annual resolution condemning the US economic embargo against Cuba. The row began as Ambassador Mike Waltz was describing what he called years of alleged corruption by Cuba's socialist government. Members of the Cuban delegation, including Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, started slamming their table and calling for a point of order, and UN officials moved to calm the outbursts. Rodríguez then walked to the front of the hall and called Waltz a liar. Waltz answered him directly.

“You understand who you're dealing with? This is America. Back up.”

Accusations and replies

Waltz accused Fidel Castro of confiscating property from generations of Cubans and of sending thousands of homosexuals, Christians, Afro-Cubans and others to concentration camps. He also claimed the Havana government had profited from the forced labour of its citizens. During his speech he displayed a black-and-white image of Castro wearing an expensive Rolex. Shortly afterwards, Rodríguez described the speech as "offensive" on social media, and the Cuban delegation demanded that it be suspended.

Rodríguez then addressed Waltz directly.

“With his arrogance and haughtiness, he forgets that he is at the United Nations, not in the US National Security Council or in a Green Berets unit.”

Rodríguez also called Waltz's remarks part of a "media circus" of threats and election campaigning, on which the US government spends large economic and human resources. He said there was no pretext for what he called collective punishment of the Cuban people.

Inside the chamber

UN General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman briefly suspended the debate on the embargo. He asked delegations to let whoever was speaking finish before claiming their right to speak. Rodríguez invoked Article 71 of the Assembly rules, which allows a speaker to be interrupted to demand compliance with procedure, though it does not cover the substance of the debate. Waltz read the article aloud and told Rodríguez that he did not like the hard truths he was hearing. Rodríguez kept pressing for the floor, and during the exchange he shouted "mentiroso", Spanish for liar, at the US ambassador.

The vote and the fuel squeeze

The resolution goes to a vote on Wednesday, 28 October, and calls out what it describes as the US "maximum pressure policy" against Cuba. It has drawn overwhelming support for 34 years. The previous annual vote, in 2025, stood at 165 to 7 with 12 abstentions. Waltz and other US officials have used public events at the UN to persuade member states to vote against it.

Yes votes165

No votes7

Abstentions12

Yes votes

165 votes

No votes

7 votes

Abstentions

12 votes

Data from the article text

In late January, Trump announced that he would impose tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. That warning has effectively cut off fuel to the island, causing widespread power outages that affect cooking, the water supply, and internet and telephone services. Tuesday's clash followed a similar exchange about a week earlier, in the week of 19 October 2026, when Waltz and Cuban counterpart Ernesto Soberón Guzmán traded words outside a US-hosted panel with Cuban dissidents and former prisoners.