U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz delivered a scathing condemnation of the communist Castro regime during Tuesday’s plenary meeting on the subject of the U.S. “embargo” on Cuba.
At the request of the authoritarian Castro regime, the U.N. General Assembly held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the U.S. “embargo” on Cuba. For decades, the ruling communists have claimed that the “embargo,” which mildly limits economic activity between both nations, was the cause of all of Cuba’s problems — exempting themselves from any responsibility for the near-ruin of the island nation they have forcibly ruled for more than 67 years.
As per the Cuban regime’s request, U.N. member nations voted on whether or not to hold an urgent debate on the subject of the “embargo.” The debate took place after 139 nations voted in favor. Nine countries — Argentina, Costa Rica, Czechia, Israel, Morocco, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Ukraine, and the United States — voted against the request.
Another 30 countries abstained from casting a vote, including Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Ecuador, Italy, Germany, Jordan, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea, among others.
Speaking at the debate, Ambassador Waltz emphasized that the real embargo is the one the Cuban communist regime has imposed upon its own people for decades. Waltz noted that the U.N. debate was taking place while Cubans faced yet another nationwide blackout — a decades-old problem caused by the disastrous mismanagement by the Castro regime. The ambassador pointed out that, “somehow — conveniently— there always seems to be enough power for the regime, for the Cuban dictatorship.”
“There’s enough power right now as we speak for the Castro family’s compounds. They have electricity. There’s enough power for the regime’s offices — including, apparently, enough to type up today’s remarks blaming America once again year after year for the crisis they have created,” Waltz said.
“There will be — I promise you — enough power for the Cuban propaganda shop, to clip and post and translate their lies they are spreading in this body once again around the world,” he continued.
Waltz urged the Cuban regime to change its ways and hear the cries of the Cuban people — particularly in anticipation of the fifth anniversary of the historic July 2021 protests, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets to demand an end to communism.
Ambassador Waltz asked the diplomats gathered at the U.N. to ask themselves how was it that humanitarian aid from several countries and the U.N. itself manage to arrive in Cuba this year if there is an “embargo” on the island.
Waltz dismissed the regime’s claims of a “blockade” by pointing out that there is no ring of U.S. Navy warships encircling the island and preventing the arrival of humanitarian aid. The ambassador pointed out that the United States has sent over $100 million in aid to the Cuban people so far in 2026.
“It’s fake. It’s false, It’s a lie. Period,” he emphatically stressed.
The U.S. diplomat invited those present to ask themselves how the Castros are able to secure fuel for their private family jet or maintain their 17 different homes if there is no money in Cuba for fuel, food, or medicine. He also asked the same question regarding figurehead “President” Miguel Díaz-Canel’s ability to afford expensive ties and pens.
Waltz also denounced other actions by the Castro regime, beginning with the operations of GAESA, the Cuban regime’s recently-sanctioned conglomerate used by the ruling communists to control roughly half of Cuba’s entire economy. Waltz pointed out that GAESA has an $18 billion trust fund, of which not a single cent goes to the Cuban people.
Ambassador Waltz also pointed out the Cuban regime’s longstanding slave doctor trade and explained to those present how the Cuban regime steals the wages that the slave doctors receive and threatens them and their families into compliance.
Addressing European diplomats, Waltz denounced that the Castro regime has sent thousands of Cuban men to fight for Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Their wages, the ambassador further denounced, are pocketed by the Castro regime.
“How you can stand here, as you take the position that you’ve taken on Ukraine, and not condemn the Cuban regime for sending mercenaries there?” he asked. “It is no wonder with what I’ve laid out today that nearly two million Cubans have risked their lives and fled. And where did they flee? They often go to the United States.”
“We have now three million Cuban Americans, who are proudly thriving as entrepreneurs, as business owners, as lawyers, as doctors, as members of their communities — even our own Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American who has risen through our society to represent the United States on the world stage,” he continued.
The ambassador said that, in contrast, the Castro regime persecutes and rounds up Cuban dissidents, and anyone who speaks up is made to pay the ultimate price.
“So, we have to ask ourselves: Why does Cuba continue to call for this debate and come to this microphone?” Waltz asked. “The answer is simple: because blaming the United States is the only economic plan Havana has left.”
“And when they try to whitewash their crimes, again, for the second time in one session — at the cost of $28,000 per hour — don’t fall for it. Don’t lend your voice to this propaganda,” he urged, and stressed, “There is no American blockade. The only embargo in Cuba is the guillotine the regime keeps over the heads of its people.”
Ambassador Waltz pointed out on Wednesday morning that the U.N. debate on Cuba held at the request of the nation’s communist regime incurred costs of $168,000, stressing that the funds could have fed thousands of Cuban children.
“Instead, the U.N. gave the Communist regime a stage for its propaganda while 10 million Cubans sat in a nationwide blackout,” Waltz denounced.
“It’s time to stop the empty theatrics and put resources where they actually matter,” he continued.
Every year, the United Nations holds a symbolic, quasi-traditional vote to pass a resolution condemning the United States’ “embargo” on Cuba. While the United States and Israel have historically voted against the resolution, the 2025 edition of the event saw other countries join the U.S. in voting against the resolution while an increasing number abstained from voting. The unprecedented development prompted the U.N. itself to describe the situation as a “noticeable shift” in the stance adopted by U.N. member states on the matter.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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