The Cuban delegation walked out of the UN General Assembly plenary session on Tuesday in response to slanders leveled against the Caribbean nation by U.S. President Donald Trump during his speech.
Trump — who exceeded the 15-minute time limit allotted to speakers at the podium during the opening day of the High-Level Segment of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly — devoted a significant portion of his address to highlighting his administration’s alleged achievements and discussing U.S. military might.
Moments after UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for global power to be exercised through law and peace rather than force, Trump emphasized that he would not hesitate to use force if the United States perceived a threat.
Speaking about the Western Hemisphere and the changing global landscape, Trump resorted to the oft-repeated argument that “Cuba is an absolutely failed state” — a potential pretext for military aggression against the country located just 90 miles from the United States.
According to Trump, Cuba “is failing like never before and will eventually fall.”
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla immediately responded via a post on the social network X: “The U.S. government is incapable of accepting that Cuba is — and has the right to be — a fully independent and sovereign country.”
He warned that “none of the U.S. President’s falsehoods at the UN, nor any slander, can or will deny that fact.”
“Cuba is not a threat to the U.S. or to any other country,” reiterated Bruno Rodríguez, stressing that “the economic blockade — including the energy embargo — does indeed threaten Cuba and other nations. It is an act of genocide and collective punishment. We are a peaceful country and we deserve peace.”
On the online platform itself, the Cuban foreign minister expressed his gratitude for the remarks made by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — the first speaker in the General Debate — “for denouncing the collective punishment to which the Cuban people are being subjected through an illegal economic and energy blockade by the US government.”
Speaking from the podium, Lula stated that “in Cuba, the world watches with horror as collective punishment is imposed on 10 million people through an illegal embargo.”
“We will not delegate the defense of our borders and the guarantee of our population’s right to live without fear to third parties. We do not need aircraft carriers patrolling our waters. We need cooperation to stem the flow of arms and money that fuels organized crime.”
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
