US and Cuban officials engaged in a heated exchange at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, marking the latest public confrontation between the longtime adversaries over Washington’s escalating economic campaign against Havana.
The incident began shortly after US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz took the podium to urge countries not to support an annual resolution scheduled for a vote this week condemning Washington’s decades-long economic embargo against Cuba.
As Waltz detailed what he described as years of corruption by Cuba’s socialist government, members of the Cuban delegation, including Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, began banging on their designated table and shouting for a point of order.
As UN officials tried to calm the situation, Rodríguez walked down the aisle towards the head of the General Assembly and shouted at Waltz, “You are a liar!”
Waltz responded, “You understand who you're dealing with? This is America. Back up.”
The confrontation was an unusual departure from the diplomatic decorum traditionally observed at the UN, but it reflected rising tensions between the two countries as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to force political changes in Cuba by intensifying its already severe economic pressure.
Cuba, which has long struggled with serious economic and financial problems, is now facing an increasingly critical situation after Trump, a Republican, announced in late January that he would impose tariffs on any country selling or supplying oil to the island.
The warning has effectively cut off fuel supplies to Cuba, triggering widespread power outages that have disrupted basic activities, including cooking, water supply and internet and telephone services.
Cuban officials have also repeatedly pointed out that while US officials are demanding greater openness to private investment in Cuba, Washington continues to impose sanctions that undermine the very economic opening it has sought for decades.
Tuesday’s outbursts came a week after a similar exchange between Waltz and his Cuban counterpart, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, outside a US-hosted panel featuring Cuban dissidents and former prisoners. The event sought to highlight allegations of repressive conduct by the Cuban government.
Waltz and other US officials have been using public events and gatherings at the world body to persuade UN member states to vote against the annual resolution on Wednesday. The measure seeks to condemn the US government's “maximum pressure policy” towards Cuba.
For the past 34 years, the resolution has received overwhelming support from UN member states.
Last year, 165 countries voted in favour of the resolution, while seven opposed it and 12 abstained. Argentina, Ukraine and Hungary opposed the measure for the first time.
Although such resolutions are not legally binding, they reflect international opinion.