Mike Waltz Confronts Cuban Delegation with ‘This Is Not Havana’ in Fiery UN Address

Cuba’s foreign minister leveled a serious charge against the United States on Tuesday, accusing it of committing an “act of war” through its restrictive policies on fuel shipments to the island. This bold statement elicited a strong rebuttal from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, who pinned the blame on Cuba’s communist regime for the country’s ongoing issues with blackouts, repression, and economic turmoil.

This heated exchange took place at the U.N. General Assembly, merely a day after a significant failure of Cuba’s national electrical grid. This incident left nearly 10 million residents without electricity, marking the third complete blackout this year and the eighth occurrence since October 2025, as reported by Reuters.

By Tuesday morning, Cuban authorities had managed to restore power in some central areas and parts of Havana. However, according to Reuters, many regions were still without service or were experiencing unstable power supply.

Addressing the assembly, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused the Trump administration of waging a “multidimensional, non-conventional war” against Cuba. He claimed this conflict had intensified, becoming even more “cruel and ruthless” over the preceding seven months.

Rodríguez described U.S. efforts to restrict fuel deliveries as the imposition of “an energy collapse, equivalent to a naval blockade, which is an act of war,” according to a UNTV transcript.

Waltz rejected the claim that the United States had established a naval blockade around Cuba.

“There is no ring of Navy warships, U.S. Navy warships sitting around this island blocking trade or humanitarian aid going into Cuba,” Waltz said. “It’s fake. It’s false. It’s a lie. Period.”

Waltz argued that the real embargo was the one Cuba’s government imposed on its own citizens.

“There’s a lot of talk today of an embargo. And indeed there is one,” he said. “It’s the embargo the Cuban regime mercilessly imposes on its own people decade after decade after decade.”

He called on Havana to “change your ways” and “turn the lights back on for your people,” while accusing Cuba’s leaders of ensuring that government compounds and propaganda operations had power even as families worried about spoiled food, hospitals losing electricity and phones running out of charge.

Waltz noted that Tuesday’s meeting came days before the fifth anniversary of the July 11, 2021, demonstrations, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets amid shortages of food, medicine and electricity and demanded greater freedom.

As Waltz spoke, a member of the Cuban delegation pounded on the table, prompting the ambassador to respond.

“This is not Havana. This is the United States of America. This is the United Nations,” Waltz said. “And we will speak, we will be heard, and we will not be silenced like your own people. So, pound away.”

Waltz displayed photographs and read the names of several jailed Cuban artists, musicians and activists, including Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo Pérez and Duannis Dabel León Taboada.

“They’re not armed. They’re not violent,” Waltz said. “They carry flowers, and write poems and write music. And for that, the regime beats them, detains them and tries to break them.”

Waltz also said GAESA, Cuba’s military-run conglomerate, controls approximately half of the country’s economy and holds $18 billion in assets.

Reuters has reported that estimates of GAESA’s economic reach range from approximately 40% to 70%, while Cuban officials dispute the U.S. government’s $18 billion figure.

Waltz said that despite Cuba’s blockade claims, humanitarian assistance had recently arrived from countries including China, Russia, Mexico, Canada and Spain, as well as from the European Union and the United Nations.

He also said the United States had provided more than $100 million in aid this year and approximately $500 million annually in commodities.

“The answer is simple: because blaming the United States is the only economic plan Havana has left,” Waltz said of Cuba’s decision to bring the issue before the General Assembly.

Before the wider debate, U.S. Representative for U.N. Management and Reform Jeffrey Bartos objected to reopening the agenda item and called for a vote on whether the proceedings should go forward.

Bartos said the three-hour meeting would cost approximately $84,000, money he argued could instead provide food, emergency medical supplies and solar lanterns to Cuban families.

“Right now, Cuba is in darkness — again,” Bartos said. “I urge the Cuban regime: turn the lights back on for your people.”

Members of the Cuban delegation also interrupted Bartos several times by pounding on the table. Bartos at one point paused and responded, “Keep banging away. It’s very effective,” before continuing his remarks.

Bartos accused Havana of seeking “another propaganda clip” rather than solutions and pointed to what he said were more than 800 political prisoners held by the government.

Independent organizations have produced varying estimates. Human Rights Watch said in April that more than 700 people remained imprisoned for political reasons, while Prisoners Defenders reported more than 1,200 political prisoners in Cuba in the spring of 2026. Cuba denies holding anyone for political reasons.

“That is the real Cuban embargo,” Bartos said. “It is the embargo the regime imposes on its own people: on speech, on faith, on enterprise, on dissent, on political rights and hope — and now, quite literally, on light.”

Rodríguez accused the U.S. delegation of offering “worn-out lies” and attempting to prevent the General Assembly from debating the effects of American policy.

Cuba’s electricity crisis has been driven by severe fuel shortages and an aging, poorly maintained power system that has struggled to meet demand. The Cuban government primarily blames U.S. restrictions, while Washington attributes the island’s broader economic crisis to communist economic policies, corruption and repression.