Cuba’s Foreign Minister Calls Out Hypocrisy of U.S. Claims Over Blockade
By Barbara Mutnick and Mark Satinoff
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK CITY, July 7, 2026 — In a diplomatic offensive aimed at challenging the U.S. economic war against Cuba, Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parilla requested a session of the UN General Assembly to re-open debate on ending the U.S. blockade of the island.
U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio actively and aggressively opposed the proposal. But an overwhelming majority of UN member states approved Cuba’s request to hold the debate. 136 voted in favor, 9 against, and 30 abstained.
A win for Cuba!
The 67-year-old U.S. economic war by successive administrations — Democratic and Republican — has drastically intensified in the last seven months. Washington has cut off all imports of oil to the island and instituted new, draconian sanctions on third nations that dare to challenge the U.S. prohibition of conducting any trade or other business with Cuba.
The issue that came to the General Assembly on July 7 was whether to consider “the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.”
The same question has been debated and decided annually by the UN Assembly for more than three decades, each time reflecting overwhelming condemnation of the U.S. economic war on the island nation. Most recently, in October 2025, 165 nations voted against the U.S. blockade.
Only the U.S. and Israeli governments have consistently opposed the resolutions introduced by Cuba.
As the Trump-Rubio team upped the ante against Cuba following the 2024 U.S. elections, the White House applied more active pressure to dissuade nations from defending Cuba’s stance. An uptick in “no” votes and abstentions last year reflected a small degree of success in Washington’s concerted effort — using threats, coercion, and blackmail — to minimize the overwhelming vote for Cuba’s side.
The July 7 vote reflected an even more aggressive campaign by Washington, riddled not only with innuendos and outright lies about the Cuban government, but including not very veiled threats as well.
A considerable number of UN member states that have traditionally supported Cuba’s resolution abstained this time. These included Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands. This pressure was also reflected in the abstentions by Bolivia, Chile, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago, all of which supported Cuba’s resolution last year.
A leaked State Department cable issued by Rubio and sent to all U.S. embassies conveyed the message that the U.S. government objects to the UN holding a debate and that member states would be wise to align themselves with this policy. Addressing those that have usually stood with Cuba, the directive stated, “Be extremely careful in the wording of any intervention you deliver, to avoid deflecting blame from the Cuban regime’s own failings.”
Blockade: an ‘act of collective punishment’ against Cuban people
Rodríguez opened the debate following the procedural vote. “The government of the United States is carrying out multi-dimensional, non-conventional warfare against Cuba,” he told the delegates. “It has already lasted for almost seven decades and has become ever more cruel and more ruthless during the last seven months.”
Rodríguez called the U.S. blockade “an act of collective punishment” of Cuba’s population. “Added to this there is now an energy siege, equivalent to a naval blockade — which is an act of war,” he explained.
The UN has warned that Washington’s intensified economic war is generating a humanitarian emergency. Cuba’s previous infant mortality rate of 4.0 per 1,000 live births has more than doubled to 9.9 — deaths that would not have occurred had there been fuel, equipment, and therapies. Calling these “preventable deaths,” Rodríguez said “the blockade asphyxiates and kills silently.”
He noted that the damage caused by the “genocidal and criminal” blockade during the period of March 2025 through February 2026 amounted to a record $8 billion — a 7% increase over the same period a year earlier.
“The cumulative impact of the blockade since it was first imposed amounts to $178 billion $78 million at current prices,” Rodríguez explained. The foreign minister added that these figures do not include the “extreme impact” of the fuel blockade Washington imposed on Cuba in February.
U.S. ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz took the floor, trying to deny the existence of the U.S. blockade.
“Year after year, they hide behind this myth called a blockade,” he claimed, “this so-called blockade. There is no American blockade.” Turning reality on its head, he alleged, “There is one [blockade]. It’s the embargo the Cuban regime mercilessly imposes on its own people.”
Since Trump issued an executive order on January 29, effectively imposing the oil blockade, Cuba has received only one major oil delivery — a Russian tanker that docked in March.
The resulting lack of fuel has led to prolonged island-wide blackouts, severely affecting the basic necessities and quality of life in Cuba. Hospitals have effectively shut down. Agricultural products from the countryside are unable to be transported to market, leading to scarcity of food. Garbage cannot be picked up, contributing to the spreading of mosquito-borne disease. Electric water pumps are shut down, so water is difficult to obtain. Education and the ability of Cuban workers to get to their jobs has been disrupted.
In a taunting tone, Waltz claimed that there is plenty of power for the island, but the Cuban government is hoarding it. “I stand here today to urge the Cuban regime: Change your ways,” he said. “Turn the lights back on for your people.”
On more than one occasion, Cuba’s delegation had to bang on the table where they were seated to get the attention of the Assembly president.
The first time was when a U.S. embassy representative spoke against holding the debate but then took up the debate himself. Foreign minister Rodríguez, accompanied by other members of the Cuban delegation, banged loudly, demanding a point of order when the UN General Assembly president neglected to call the U.S. representative to order.
‘You’re a liar, Mr. Walz’
As Waltz regaled the Assembly with claims that Cuban leaders are leading luxurious lives while ignoring the people’s cries for freedom, Rodríguez again called for a point of order. “Mr. President, I ask you to call to decorum the permanent representative of the United States. This is the United Nations General Assembly. You are a liar, Mr. Waltz.”
During the nearly 7-hour discussion, representatives of numerous states and organizations, such as the Non-Aligned Movement and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), reiterated their opposition to the U.S. blockade. They argued that this is not only a humanitarian matter. They insisted that the U.S. actions challenge the trading rights of sovereign nations that have done business with Cuba.
Rodríguez followed the debate with a passionate and defiant summation, answering Waltz and addressing himself to the world.
“Truth be told, this morning the United States team deserved a red card,” Rodríguez said in a reference to the ongoing soccer World Cup being co-hosted by the United States.
Ironically, striker Folarin Balogun, a leading U.S. player, had been barred from the upcoming U.S.-Belgium match over a red card he received during his team’s previous game with Bosnia/Herzegovina. But he was reinstated after Trump had a “chat” with his buddies in the soccer federation leadership — an act that sparked a global controversy but did not prevent Belgium from defeating the U.S. team 4-1!
During his presentation, Waltz had held up four photos of artists allegedly imprisoned for their political views in Cuba.
Rodríguez countered with photos of his own. One showed a child arriving from school to a home in darkness, another an operating room illuminated by a cell phone light, and a third of humanitarian supplies being delivered by ox cart because there is no diesel to power delivery trucks in Cuba.
ICE anti-immigrant violence not in Cuba, but in U.S.
Then he switched gears. “Mr. Waltz has addressed the issue of arbitrary arrests, human rights, repression, and other matters. I want to show this photo,” Rodríguez said. “It is not in Cuba, Mr. President, it is in the United States of America during an ICE raid. You will not find a similar image of violent repression against protesters in Cuba.
“Here’s ICE detaining a five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo,” said Rodríguez, holding another photo. “Here he’s being held by an ICE henchman. This did not happen in Cuba.”
Then holding up photos of Renee Good, the immigrant rights activist shot dead in cold blood by an ICE agent in Minneapolis this past winter, he remarked, “This woman cannot be imprisoned — a US citizen, a hard-working woman from an honest family — because she was murdered by ICE in a cruel and cold manner.”
Debunking Waltz’s lies about Cuba’s international medical teams, Rodríguez noted how offensive that must sound to the 50 nations that have received the teams of Cuban doctors “represented in 50 seats in this room today.” He expressed appreciation for the “broad international support and cooperation from numerous governments, parliaments, political forces, organizations, solidarity movements, and associations of Cubans residing abroad.”
“Cuba will never surrender its sovereignty and independence, for which its finest sons have died,” Rodríguez concluded. “As Antonio Maceo[1] pointed out, whoever attempts to seize Cuba will only gather the dust of its blood-soaked soil if they do not perish in the struggle.”
Video and English-language transcripts of the two sessions of the debate are available at July 7 Morning and July 7 Afternoon. Below is a translation by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations of the closing remarks by Bruno Rodríguez before the UN General Assembly on July 7, 2026. A link to a video clip of his intervention, dubbed over with the UN English translation, can be found here.
Transcript
By Bruno Rodríguez
Truth be told this morning, the United States team deserved a red card.
I would like to contribute to Permanent Representative Waltz’s photo slide show with this one showing a blackout in Havana due to the United States’ energy blockade, or with this one of a Cuban family where the child has just arrived home from school, still in his uniform, but suffering from the darkness.
This photo is dramatic, Mr. President. It shows an operating room being illuminated by a cell phone flashlight. This is due to the United States’ energy blockade.
International humanitarian aid must be distributed by oxcart due to the United States’ energy blockade.
Mr. Waltz has addressed the issue of arbitrary arrests, human rights, repression and other matters. I want to show this photo. It is not in Cuba, Mr. President; it is in the United States of America during an ICE raid.
You will not find a similar image of violent repression against protesters in Cuba. Here’s ICE detaining a five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo. Here he’s being held by an ICE henchman. This did not happen in Cuba.
This woman cannot be imprisoned; a US citizen, a hard-working woman from an honest family, because she was murdered by ICE in a cruel and cold manner.[2]
The United States representative referred to corruption. It is surprising that this would be done by a representative of the current government which is known for being a true plutocracy, for institutional and legal corruption, the existence of so-called special interests and millionaire election campaigns.
A country where money and corporations rule, where voters are manipulated, judicial persecution is used for political ends and where the justice system is corrupted and politicized. It was here, not in Cuba, that the scandalous corruption of the Department of Homeland Security was denounced.
Mr. Waltz’s slanderous allusions to Cuban international medical cooperation offend the tens of thousands of doctors and paramedics dedicated to serving populations in remote, low-income areas, and also offend the 50 recipient States, represented in 50 seats in this room today.
I will not address the Czech Republic’s speech because we have had enough with two U.S. speeches without having a third.[3]
The United States has denied the existence of the blockade. I invite Mr. Waltz to read the statements made by the White House Press Secretary on March 30th or those by the president of the United States himself the day before. They confirm the existence of the blockade, particularly the total blockade on hydrocarbons.
Other mendacious and manipulative statements by the representative of the United States seek to damage the dignity and solid unity of our people as part of the unconventional cognitive aggression it has unleashed against Cuba. They will not succeed.
An inconsequential official of the United States has invoked names of stature and universal legacy. Mr. Walsh, no one will know who you are in short time. Che Guevara will continue to be reborn in every Cuban who fights against the imperialism you represent.[4]
You offend our people when you quote Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, whom successive U.S. administrations were never able to defeat. In a few weeks, Cuba and the world will celebrate his centennial. You have implicitly referred to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz and I reiterate on his behalf that he remains ready to ride in defense of our homeland.[5]
You have also referred to our president, a distinguished son of the Revolution, who, unlike you and the American politicians, will suffer the same fate as the rest of our people in the face of imperialist aggression.[6]
I reaffirm that Cuba will never surrender its sovereignty and independence, for which its finest sons have died.
As Antonio Maceo pointed out, whoever attempts to seize Cuba will only gather the dust of its blood-soaked soil if they do not perish in the struggle.
Thank you very much.
NOTES
[1] José Antonio Maceo was a leader of the fight for Cuba’s independence from Spain and the end of slavery on the island. In 1878, a group of Cuban rebels signed the Pact of Zanjon, which granted amnesty for insurgents, but failed to grant full independence for Cuba or the immediate abolition of slavery. Maceo, then in command of the independence forces in eastern Cuba, refused to sign during an historic meeting in the town of Baraguá.
[2] This is a reference to Renee Nicole Good, killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026.
[3] This is a reference to the speech by the representative of the Czech Republic, which had abstained during the vote on whether to open debate on the issue of the blockade.
[4] Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine by birth, was a commander of the guerrilla forces during the Cuban revolution and a leader of Cuba’s new revolutionary government, spearheading the agrarian land reform and literacy campaigns alongside other roles. Inspired by revolutionary possibilities in Africa and Latin America, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 for internationalist missions. He was captured and executed in Bolivia by CIA-assisted forces in 1967.
[5] Fidel Castro was the central leader of the Cuban revolution. He served as Cuba’s president from 1976 until his retirement in 2008. He died in 2016.
Raúl Castro, a lifelong leader of the Cuban Revolution, was the former Commander of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces and served as the country’s president prior to Díaz-Canel. He holds the title General of the Army, Cuba’s highest military post. Castro was indicted by the U.S. justice department on May 20, 2026, on bogus charges of murder and conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens stemming from a 1996 incident over Cuban territorial waters.
Both Fidel and Raul were part of the “heroic generation” that fought against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and led the revolution that toppled that U.S.-backed regime in 1959.
[6] This is a reference to Cuba’s current president Miguel Díaz-Canel.
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Categories: Cuba/Cuba Solidarity