U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz got into a screaming match with Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla on Tuesday, after Parrilla approached Waltz’s podium mid-speech and called him a liar.
This comes as the U.N. prepares to vote on whether to condemn the U.S. embargo on Cuba, the longest-running economic war and trade embargo in modern history. Parrilla has accused the U.S. of pressuring other countries into voting against a condemnation of the embargo, even as the most recent fuel blockade has led to the collapse of the once-revered Cuban medical system, doubling the infant mortality rate and putting millions of Cubans at risk. Waltz spent the entirety of his speech Tuesday calling Cuba’s government corrupt, accusing its leaders of having a private island and Rolex collections, and blaming them for their country’s current situation—even as the U.S continues to block fuel from reaching the island.
Parrilla interrupted Waltz’s speech by calling for a point of order, arguing that the rules of the General Assembly had been violated, referencing Rule 71, which holds that “a representative may rise to a point of order, and the point of order shall be immediately decided by the President in accordance with the rules of procedure.”
The U.S. Permanent Representative Mike Waltz is a disgrace to what it means to be a diplomat.
— David Ramírez Álvarez 🇨🇺 (@DvidTwit) October 27, 2026
The man talk, walks, and acts like a character from the film Idiocracy.
Cuba will not stay idly as this person eviscerates the principles of the United Nations.…
Waltz disagreed, saying that Parrilla just didn’t “like” the points he was making. “He doesn’t like the hard truths,” he said as Parrilla began to approach the podium, still demanding that his point of order be recognized. “You can come and intimidate all you want, I ask you to back away from this podium!”
Waltz then turned back to General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman.
“Mr. President, this individual needs to back away from this podium, he’s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America like he tries to do to political prisoners! I’m the representative of the United States of America, back up!”
“You are a liar!” Parrilla retorted.
“Back away! … Do you understand who you’re dealing with?” Waltz threatened while Parrilla continued to call him a liar. “This is the United States of America. Back up.” The meeting was then suspended.
NEW: @USAmbUN Mike Waltz just got into a shouting match on the floor of the general assembly with Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
— Josh Christenson (@jchristenson_) October 27, 2026
"He's not going to intimidate me in the United States of America, like he tries to intimidate political prisoners," Waltz… pic.twitter.com/DgZZ4v8w7w
While President Obama loosened many of the embargo’s restrictions during his tenure, President Trump doubled down on them—especially in his second term when Cuban American Marco Rubio became Secretary of State. The fuel blockade has induced food and water shortages, daily blackouts, a mass exodus from the country, and a medicine shortage that has forced Cubans to buy lifesaving drugs off the black market. Even ventilators keeping premature babies alive aren’t working. The U.S. has continued to insist that these sanctions are targeting Cuba’s Communist government, but they are obviously having direct negative impacts on the Cuban people. Even still, Waltz’s outburst indicates that the Trump administration has no intention of loosening the economic “noose” on Cuba anytime soon.