US Expels Cuban Diplomat After Waltz Clash on UN General Assembly Floor

Updated 17:02 UTC

The General Assembly has now held the vote. Cuba's resolution condemning the US economic embargo passed by 130 votes to 17, with 25 abstentions, the Associated Press and Reuters reported on Wednesday. Support fell sharply from last year, when the tally was 165 to 7 with 12 abstentions. Germany and Italy abstained for the first time in many years, and several countries voted against the resolution for the first time, after a US lobbying campaign ahead of the vote. The resolution is not binding, and only the US Congress can lift the embargo, which has been in place for more than 60 years.

US Ambassador Mike Waltz told reporters after the vote that he was satisfied that so many countries, naming South Korea and Germany among them, had shifted position, and he said the number of countries that had moved had tripled. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez answered on X that the US government was once again isolated and was subjecting the Cuban people to collective punishment, and he said US pretexts, pressure and what he called its media circus would not prevail.

The United States is expelling a Cuban diplomat after a shouting match on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday turned physical, US Ambassador Mike Waltz said.

Waltz told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday evening that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had signed the paperwork to eject Richard Tur de la Concepcion, the first secretary of Cuba's Permanent Mission to the UN. "He's gone. He's going to be on a plane to Havana within the next 24 hours," Waltz said. "You lay a hand on an American here in the United States, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and myself, we're not going to stand for it."

A speech, a photo and a walk to the podium

The clash came during the General Assembly debate on Cuba's annual resolution calling for an end to the US economic embargo. Waltz used the US speech to accuse Cuba's leaders of corruption and of living well while ordinary Cubans face hardship. He held up a photograph of the late Fidel Castro wearing two Rolex watches, which he priced at about 40,000 dollars, and said that, by the Cuban government's own statistics, the watches would pay for 55 years of an average Cuban wage. He then showed a photograph of Cuba's current president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, also wearing a Rolex.

Cuba's foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, left his seat and moved toward the podium, accusing Waltz of lying and saying the speech broke the Assembly's procedural rules. Waltz told him to back up and said the minister would not silence him. General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman suspended the sitting and told delegates to return to their seats.

The phone incident

While that exchange unfolded, Tur de la Concepcion approached J.P. Freire, a member of the US delegation who was filming the scene on his phone. Video shared by Waltz on X appeared to show the Cuban official wagging a finger, pushing the phone away and reaching for the device, before accusing Freire of violating his personal space. Waltz said the official had shoved and tried to assault a member of the American delegation. Cuban media identified Tur de la Concepcion by name, and CubaHeadlines reported that he covers the Fifth Committee, the Assembly committee that handles budget and administration.

Waltz also accused the Cuban delegation of trying to press UN staff to cut the US microphones during his speech, and of trying to intimidate an American diplomat who noticed.

Havana answers back

Rodriguez Parrilla answered on X, accusing Washington of lying in what he called a crude and permanent manner and accusing Waltz of arrogance and hubris. He said the US government had launched a new attempt to justify its economic policy toward Cuba. CubaHeadlines reported that he also called Waltz's speech a media circus.

The expulsion lands one day before a scheduled vote. The General Assembly votes on Wednesday, Oct. 28, on Cuba's resolution condemning the embargo, a vote held every year for the past 34 years. The first vote took place in 1992. Last year, 165 countries supported the resolution. The vote is not binding, but both sides treat the count as a measure of international opinion on the embargo.

No Cuban response to the expulsion itself had been reported by Wednesday morning. What is confirmed is the order as Waltz announced it: the first secretary is to leave within 24 hours.