US ambassador Mike Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla confronted each other during the United Nations debate on Washington’s embargo against Cuba. The assembly president briefly suspended the meeting before giving Rodríguez a procedural intervention. Waltz completed his speech and urged members to reject the resolution scheduled for a Wednesday vote.
US ambassador Mike Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla argued during the United Nations General Assembly’s debate on Washington’s economic embargo against Cuba. Waltz had begun a speech criticising the Cuban government when Rodríguez and other members of his delegation objected loudly from the floor.[1], [2]
The assembly president tried to restore order with his gavel. Rodríguez approached the front of the hall; some of his words were not clearly audible on the UN livestream. Waltz demanded that he move away from the podium. The president then briefly suspended the meeting and explained the rules again before allowing a point of order limited to procedure.[1]
Rodríguez used that intervention to reject Waltz’s accusations in forceful terms. The US representative then completed his speech and urged members to vote against the draft resolution condemning the embargo. The Wednesday vote remained ahead, and its outcome was not yet known during the exchange.[1]
After the incident, Rodríguez criticised Waltz on X, referring to his earlier service as US national security adviser and a Signal messaging controversy. Waltz had faced scrutiny after adding a journalist to a discussion among senior officials about strikes on the Houthis, the armed movement in Yemen. President Donald Trump nominated him for the UN post when announcing that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would also serve as national security adviser.[1]
