'This is America. Back up': Shouting match breaks out between US and Cuban officials at UN | WATCH
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'This is America. Back up': Shouting match breaks out between US and Cuban officials at UN | WATCH")
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US and Cuban officials clash at the UN over Washington's decades-long embargo as Trump's oil restrictions deepen Cuba's economic crisis
US and Cuban officials engaged in a heated shouting match on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, marking the latest public confrontation between the longtime adversaries over Washington's escalating economic campaign against Havana. The exchange started shortly after US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz took the podium to oppose an annual resolution scheduled for a vote this week that condemns the United States' decades-long economic embargo against Cuba.
As Waltz outlined years of alleged corruption by Cuba's socialist government, members of the Cuban delegation, including Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, started banging on their designated table and shouting for a point of order. As UN officials attempted to calm the situation, Rodríguez walked down the aisle towards the head of the General Assembly and shouted at Waltz, “You are a liar!" Waltz responded, “You understand who you’re dealing with? This is America. Back up.”
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The confrontation marked a striking departure from the diplomatic decorum traditionally observed at the United Nations. It also reflected escalating tensions between Washington and Havana as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to force changes to Cuba's political system through an intensified economic campaign.
Cuba, already struggling with longstanding economic and financial difficulties, is facing mounting pressure after Trump, a Republican, announced in late January that he would impose tariffs on any country selling or supplying oil to the island. The warning has effectively cut off fuel supplies to Cuba, triggering widespread power outages that have disrupted basic activities, including cooking, water supply, internet access and telephone services.
Cuban officials have repeatedly argued that Washington's demands for the island to open its economy to private investment contradict its continued imposition of sanctions that hinder the very economic opening the United States has sought for decades. Tuesday's confrontation came a week after a similar exchange between Waltz and his Cuban counterpart, Ernesto Soberon Guzman, outside a US-hosted panel featuring Cuban dissidents and former prisoners. The event sought to highlight allegations of oppressive behaviour by the Cuban government.
Waltz and other US officials have been using public events and gatherings at the United Nations to persuade member states to vote against the annual resolution on Wednesday. The measure criticises the US government's maximum pressure policy against Cuba. For the past 34 years, the resolution has received overwhelming international support. Last year, the vote stood at 165-7, with 12 abstentions. Argentina, Ukraine and Hungary opposed the measure for the first time.
