“There is no blockade. It is absolutely false,” said the US ambassador to the UN.
MIAMI, United States. – US Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, urged this Tuesday Member States to “stop pleasing the regime with their votes” and to use the annual vote on the anti-embargo resolution to send “a message” to Havana and the Cuban people.
He also addressed the Cuban authorities: “Stop using this vote to blame the United States for all your economic problems.”
Waltz called the annual debate — held “every year since 1992” — “political theater” in which “the Cuban regime attempts to convince its international supporters and the Cuban people that the world considers it innocent of its attacks on the fundamental freedoms of its citizens and of the abysmal and despicable economic consequences of its policies.” “But, colleagues, today I propose that you do something different this year,” he urged.
The US representative stated that “the United States and the Trump Administration want to set the record straight” in the face of what he described as “fake news, disinformation and that false reality that the regime seeks to create year after year with this vote.”
In his opinion, the fact is that it is “an illegitimate and brutal regime” that presents itself as a “victim of aggression,” which “conspires and collaborates with enemies and adversaries of the United States.”
UN Member States should stop appeasing the regime with their votes and instead use this vote to send the world a message. I would encourage you to send the regime in Havana a message, and send the Cuban people a message. Stop using this vote to blame them and blame all of their… pic.twitter.com/3UjzsVnYg8
— Ambassador Mike Waltz (@USAmbUN) October 28, 2025
Furthermore, Waltz noted that the Cuban Government “supports terrorist organizations around the world,” “allows mercenaries to fight in the war in Ukraine,” “supports the Venezuelan regime and helps cartels,” which “traffic people, drugs and weapons, and are aiding and abetting instability in our hemisphere.”
“The Cuban regime has undermined democracies in our hemisphere,” he said, adding that “it has oppressed its own people and steals from its own people so that ‘the insiders of the regime’ maintain their elite status.”
The ambassador rejected the use of the term “blockade” and defended that his country allows imports of food, medicine and humanitarian aid to the Island. “The United States has always – always – allowed Cuba to import food, medicine and humanitarian goods. In fact, last year, in 2024, the United States exported (…) more than 585 million dollars in food, humanitarian aid and medicine,” he said. “How is that a blockade? (…) The Cuban regime can trade with any of you, with the entire world, with the rest of the Western Hemisphere, with our friends in Canada and elsewhere. There is no blockade,” he said. “Please stop repeating this propaganda,” he added.
Waltz also urged member states to review reports “about companies controlled by the Cuban military with billions of dollars in bank accounts abroad,” while “ignoring the needs of the people themselves.”
In terms of human rights, the diplomat asserted that “it is time for the regime to be held accountable for its own human rights record,” including “forced labor to produce charcoal and cigarettes,” “the 700 political prisoners it continues to unjustly hold in prisons in horrible conditions and under the constant threat of abuse and torture,” and “participation in the trafficking of health professionals abroad that provides a source of cash for the regime.”
In conclusion, he asked to vote differently. “Colleagues, you can send this message in a very simple way. Abstain from this vote or vote ‘no’ along with the United States. We enthusiastically welcome your support,” he said. “There is no lock. It is absolutely false,” he reiterated, and called for the message to be “in line with human rights, with human dignity and with a better future for the Cuban people.”
