Friends of Cuba in the United States gathered on Tuesday near the UN headquarters with a clear message: No to the blockade!
The phrase — displayed like a human billboard — could be read across the group, whose members wore white T-shirts, each bearing a letter on the front.
This initiative is part of a broader effort to support Cuba, which for over three decades has come to the UN to denounce this policy of collective punishment—a policy that has intensified since Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025.
The review of the Cuban resolution calling for an end to the blockade will take place between Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday, the international community will once again vote against this unilateral siege, which is widely rejected across the globe.
Throughout the day on Tuesday, October 27, statements were delivered by the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 plus China, the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, and the African Group, among others.
More than twenty individual countries denounced the impact of the blockade on the Cuban population and expressed their support for the island’s resolution.
A discordant note was struck by the United States representative, Mike Waltz; however, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno RodrÃguez Parrilla stepped forward to confront him.
Bruno RodrÃguez interrupted Waltz’s speech, calling for order in response to remarks riddled with slanders, distortions and lies.
“You are lying,” stated the head of Cuban diplomacy, as he — followed by the rest of the Cuban delegation — approached the podium where Waltz was standing. “That person needs to step away from the podium; he will not intimidate me,” said Waltz, who claimed to speak on behalf of the Cuban people. “I am the representative of the United States of America. Step back.”
“Pursuant to Rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, I request that you call the Permanent Representative of the United States to order,” retorted the head of the Cuban delegation from his seat in the plenary. “He is not only lying in a crude and arrogant manner, but he is also showing a lack of respect for the dignity of this Assembly and its member states.”
He accused him of exerting pressure and offending the dignity of the Cuban people and their government.
Later, on his X account, the Cuban foreign minister — who labeled Waltz a liar — wrote: “The U.S. government, through its crude lies at the United Nations General Assembly, has launched yet another desperate attempt to justify its economic aggression against Cuba and its criminal energy blockade.”
“His statements today are part of a media circus — a campaign of threats and electioneering — to which the U.S. government devotes significant financial and human resources.”
There is no justification for maintaining this act of collective punishment inflicted upon the Cuban people, he asserted.
Last year, the resolution received 165 votes in favor, seven against (Argentina, the United States, Hungary, Israel, North Macedonia, Paraguay, and Ukraine), and 12 abstentions (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Czechia, Ecuador, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Moldova, Romania, and Poland).
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
