A Cuban diplomat involved in a physical confrontation with US representatives at the United Nations is being expelled from the country.
The clash took place Tuesday between members of US Ambassador Mike Waltz’s team and officials working with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, after Waltz accused “corrupt Cuban elites” during remarks at the UN.
The dispute turned physical when Richard Tur de la Concepcion, the First Secretary of Cuba’s UN delegation, lunged toward Waltz’s spokesman, JP Freire, and tried to take the iPhone Freire was using to record the incident.
Later Tuesday, Waltz told Fox News that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had signed the paperwork ordering Tur de la Concepcion to leave the United States.
“He’s gone. He is going to be on a plane to Havana within the next 24 hours,” Waltz said on the network.
The US ambassador accused Tur de la Concepcion of shoving and attempting to assault “one of our American diplomats.”
“You lay a hand on an American here in the United States, President Trump, Secretary Rubio and myself, we’re not gonna stand for it,” Waltz said.
The confrontation began after Waltz displayed a photograph of late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro wearing two Rolex watches, together estimated to be worth about $40,000. He then showed the audience an image of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
US Ambassador Mike Waltz revealed Tuesday that a Cuban diplomat accused of assaulting an American diplomat is being expelled from the United States
Waltz said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had signed paperwork to expel Richard Tur de la Concepcion, the First Secretary of Cuba’s UN delegation, from the country
Tur de la Concepcion, pictured, lunged at Waltz’s spokesman, JP Freire, and tried to seize the iPhone Freire was using to record
The confrontation at the United Nations on Tuesday followed Waltz’s criticism of “corrupt Cuban elites,” which Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla challenged
“According to the regime’s own statistics, that would pay for 55 years of an average Cuban wage,” the US ambassador said. “It didn’t just start with Castro. This is the current Cuban President, also with a Rolex on.”
Rodriguez Parrilla then moved forcefully toward the podium and accused Waltz of lying.
The US envoy immediately responded: “Back up!”
Turning to the stunned assembly, Waltz added: “He doesn’t like hard truths. You can come and intimidate all you want.”
Waltz said Parrilla would not “intimidate him” in the United States, as he alleged the Cuban official tries to intimidate political prisoners.
Video later captured Tur de la Concepcion attempting to grab Freire’s phone.
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Freire told the Daily Mail that the delegate who confronted him physically had used “the same intimidation” against clerks to cut off Waltz’s microphone during a previous incident.
The Waltz spokesman added: “Under the Castro’s communist regime, it’s always the regime’s turn.”
The video taken by Waltz’s spokesman, Friere, shows Tur de la Concepcion approaching before lunging to grab the phone
Tur de la Concepcion is pictured with his hand out as he moved to grab Friere’s phone
Tur de la Concepcion is pictured being escorted out of the chamber after the confrontation. He put his hand over the camera one more time as he left
Cuban Embassy diplomat David Ramirez Alvarez posted on X after the exchange, saying Waltz is a ‘disgrace to what it means to be a diplomat.’
‘The man talk, walks and acts like a character from the film Idiocracy,’ Alvarez posted. ‘Cuba will not stay idly as this person eviscerates the principles of the United Nations.’
The spectacle on the diplomatic stage comes against the backdrop of rapidly deteriorating relations between Washington and Havana, as the Trump administration dramatically ratchets up pressure on the communist-run island nation.
President Trump has openly toyed with the idea of American military intervention, repeatedly warning Havana that its dictatorship is living on borrowed time.
At a recent Florida rally, Trump openly taunted the Cuban regime, musing that American naval vessels returning from regional deployments could simply pull up to the island’s shores.
‘We’ll do a little stopover,’ Trump told a roaring crowd. ‘We’ll have one of those beautiful ships stop about 50 yards off the coast… and then we’re going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.’
Rodriguez Parrilla aggressively approached the podium to brand Waltz a liar
Waltz seen telling in a heated exchange at the UN
The spectacle on the diplomatic stage comes against the backdrop of rapidly deteriorating relations between Washington and Havana
Behind the scenes, the Pentagon has already begun preparing for potential action.
Rubio has also taken the bold step of publicly calling on internal Cuban reformists and dissidents to collaborate with American intelligence channels to help dismantle the communist apparatus from within.
Rubio posted on X asking them to ‘seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.’