New Delhi: A war of words broke out between US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla during a meeting of the UN General Assembly. Tensions between the two countries resurfaced ahead of a vote on a resolution calling for an end to the US embargo on Cuba.
The confrontation began while Waltz was addressing the assembly. In several videos of the spat that have gone viral, the US ambassador can be heard accusing the Cuban government of profiting from the forced labour of its citizens, prompting members of the Cuban delegation to bang on their tables and shout “point of order”.
Rodríguez Parrilla subsequently approached the podium while Waltz was speaking, leading to a verbal confrontation between the two officials.
“Back up, ambassador! This isn’t Havana,” Waltz said, repeatedly demanding that the Cuban foreign minister move away from him.
He further accused the Cuban delegation of attempting to intimidate the US representative. “This is America. This is not your communist dictatorship. You cannot silence me,” he said.
Parrilla repeatedly accused the US ambassador of lying about the Cuban government’s alleged use of forced labour, amid the island nation’s economic turmoil.
Longest US embargo
The exchange unfolded in front of the General Assembly in New York, with the two officials trading sharp words as the meeting continued.
The confrontation comes amid longstanding tensions between Washington and Havana, particularly over the US economic embargo on Cuba. The embargo is one of the longest-running trade sanctions imposed by the United States against another country. It began in the early 1960s, following the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro’s rise to power.
The UN General Assembly was preparing to vote on a resolution calling for an end to the embargo. Although the UN has repeatedly called for the embargo to be lifted since the 1990s, its resolutions are non-binding and do not compel the US to lift its sanctions.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
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