Trump official is called a 'liar' during shouting match with Cuban officials at UN
Members of the Cuban delegation began to slam on their table during Mike Waltz’s speech
A shouting match between American and Cuban officials broke out on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, with a member of the Cuban delegation calling a Trump official a "liar."
The confrontation unfolded as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz spoke against the annual resolution condemning the U.S.' decades-long economic embargo against the island country, which is due to be voted on this week. Waltz had taken the podium to argue that member states should not support the measure.
As he detailed years of alleged corruption by the socialist government, members of the Cuban delegation, including Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, began to slam on their designated table and yell for a point of order. U.N. officials then sought to tone down the outbursts.
But Rodríguez walked down the aisle to the head of the General Assembly and yelled to Waltz, “You are a liar!"
Waltz responded, “You understand who you’re dealing with? This is America. Back up.”
The exchange was a break from the diplomatic decorum traditional to the U.N., and it came amid heightened tensions between Cuba and the U.S. as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to force changes to Cuba's political system by increasing its already punishing economic campaign.
Trump, a Republican, announced in late January that he would impose tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The warning has effectively cut off fuel to the island, leading to widespread power outages that affect basic activities such as cooking, the water supply and internet and telephone services.
The Caribbean country, already facing the dire impact of longtime economic and financial troubles, is now being pushed to a breaking point.
Cuban officials have also repeatedly stressed that as U.S. officials demand that Cuba open up to private investment, Washington keeps piling on sanctions that stymie the very economic opening it has sought for decades.
Tuesday's outbursts came a week after a similar interaction between Waltz and his Cuban counterpart, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, outside a U.S.-hosted panel with Cuban dissidents and former prisoners that sought to highlight allegations of the oppressive behavior of the island's government.
Waltz and other U.S. officials have been using these public events and gatherings at the world body to try to persuade U.N. member states to vote on Wednesday against the annual resolution. The measure is aimed at calling out the U.S. government's “maximum pressure policy” against Cuba.
For the past 34 years, the resolution has received overwhelming support. Last year, the vote was 165-7, with 12 abstentions. Argentina, Ukraine and Hungary opposed the measure for the first time.
While such resolutions are not legally binding, they do reflect world opinion.