The Cuban official who allegedly “shoved and tried to assault” an American diplomat recording Mike Waltz’s shouting match with Havana’s foreign minister on the floor of the UN is to be kicked out of the US, the Ambassador has confirmed.
The delegate – identified by Cuban media as Richard Tur de la Concepción – seemed to grab US diplomat J.P. Freire’s cell phone while he filming Waltz’s spat with Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla that erupted on the floor of the UN’s General Assembly Hall Tuesday.
Tur de la Concepción – the First Secretary of Cuba’s Permanent Mission to the UN – wagged his finger and pushed Freire’s device away before accusing him of “violating [his] personal space,” according to video shared by Waltz.
Waltz told Fox News’ “Hannity” that the Cuban official in question “shoved and tried to assault” a member of the American delegation, confirming Secretary of State Marco Rubio had “signed the paperwork to eject” him from the US.
“He’s gone. He’s going to be on a plane to Havana within the next 24 hours. You lay a hand on an American here in the United States, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and myself – we’re not going to stand for it.”
Waltz accused the Cuban delegation of trying to use the UN as a “propaganda platform to paint themselves as the victim” – just a day before the UN votes on a resolution condemning the US economic embargo on Cuba.
“They spew lies, they spew propaganda,” he said. “They blame the blockade, which doesn’t exist. By the way, that would be a ring of navy ships that doesn’t allow anything in or out. It’s an absolute lie.”
Waltz said his tirade – where he accused the Havana government of profiting off the forced labor of its own citizens – triggered a “meltdown” among the Cuban delegation but said it was a way of countering communist propaganda with “hard truths.”
“They didn’t like hearing those hard truths,” he told Sean Hannity. “They’re used to hearing the propaganda in communist Havana, but under the administration, we’re going to show the world the depredation and the failings of communism.”
During his tirade, Waltz blasted “corrupt Cuban elites” and to emphasize his point, he held up a photo of the late dictator Fidel Castro wearing two Rolex watches – worth around $40,000 in today’s currency.
“According to the regime’s own statistics, that would pay for 55 years of an average Cuban wage,” Waltz railed.
The former Florida congressman then showed a picture of the country’s current president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, sporting a Rolex timepiece.
“It didn’t just start with Castro. This is the current Cuban president, also with a Rolex on,” he said.
Waltz blasted how the Castro family lived a life of luxury while the rest of the Cuban population were plagued by hardships.
“The Castro regime has profited at the expense of the Cuban people with luxury cars, expensive watches and a private island resort,” Waltz wrote on X.
“As I shared this with the world, regime thugs rushed the stage to interrupt my speech. They can intimidate their own people in Cuba but think again about trying that nonsense in the United States of America.”
Meanwhile Rodriguez Parilla has accused Washington of lying in a “crude and permanent manner,” and accused Waltz of “arrogance and hubris.”
“The US government, with its crude lies at the General Assembly of the United Nations, launched a new desperate attempt to justify the economic aggression against Cuba and its criminal energy siege,” the official claimed on X.
The UN will vote on a resolution condemning the economic embargo on the Caribbean island Wednesday in what has become a yearly tradition for the past 34 years.
The first vote took place in 1992 – with 59 countries voting in favor. Last year, 165 countries supported the motion.
