A heated exchange occurred on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly Hall on Tuesday when U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz publicly criticized Cuba's government.
Waltz was speaking at the podium, referring to the Cuban government as a "regime of thugs," when Cuban delegates rose, shouting and banging on a desk in protest, according to video footage.
"Imagine what happens when someone asks these questions in Havana, not in a room full of ambassadors and cameras. Imagine what happens to those people if this is the intimidation and disruption that we see," Waltz stated as Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez approached, verbally challenging him.
"This is America, my friend! This is the United Nations. This isn’t your communist dictatorship. You cannot silence me, and you cannot silence my colleagues!" Waltz retorted as the floor president called for order. He continued, "This individual needs to back away from this podium. He’s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America. You understand who you’re dealing with? This is America. Back up."
After resuming his remarks, Waltz presented photographs he claimed showed Cuban leaders wearing luxury watches and their families vacationing in Europe and the Mediterranean, suggesting these were examples of misappropriated resources. "It’s not just watches, colleagues; it’s also a vast real estate empire," he said, displaying images of properties, including a private island, allegedly owned by the Castro dynasty. "Somehow, as the Cuban people are sitting in the dark, all of these luxury homes have power. How is that? And why is that?"
Despite Waltz's presentation, the U.N. General Assembly voted on Wednesday to condemn the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, a resolution that has passed annually for 34 years. However, this year's vote saw slightly more opposition and a higher number of abstentions compared to previous years.
Following the events of Tuesday, Waltz stated that a Cuban diplomat, whom he accused of attempting to intimidate an American diplomat by swatting at a recording phone, was ordered to be deported by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Video shared by Waltz appears to show a man striking a phone being used to record Waltz's speech.