Mike Waltz gets in shouting match with Cuban delegate at UN as American staffer assaulted

Key Points:

• US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz accused the Cuban government of profiting from forced labor and confiscating citizens' assets to enrich regime elites during a heated speech at the UN General Assembly.
• The confrontation escalated when Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla confronted Waltz mid-speech, leading to a shouting match and physical altercation involving US diplomat J.P. Freire.
• Waltz highlighted the wealth of Cuban leaders, showing images of Fidel Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel wearing expensive Rolex watches and detailing the regime’s control over a vast real estate empire, including private islands.
• The ambassador challenged the narrative of a US blockade on Cuba, stating that the US is the island’s largest fuel supplier and urging delegates to reject a resolution condemning US sanctions.
• Waltz concluded that Cuba’s wealth has not vanished but instead shifted from ordinary citizens to corrupt elites, with billions held in secret accounts controlled by the military-run conglomerate GAESA.