U.S. Ambassador to the UN Stands by Marco Rubio Amid Cuban Regime's Criticism

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, took a firm stand on Saturday against the criticism from the Cuban regime's permanent representative, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán. He defended Secretary of State Marco Rubio's policy of applying pressure on Havana, directly addressing the Cuban diplomat.

In a post on X, Waltz addressed Soberón's grievances about an event organized by the U.S. mission at the UN headquarters in New York, scheduled for Monday, October 19. The event, titled "Cuba Libre: The Oppression Havana Hides," is set to feature former political prisoners and experts on forced labor and regime corruption, with attendance limited to invited guests.

"The Cuban ambassador to the UN seems upset because we have invited former political prisoners and experts on forced labor and regime corruption to share their insights," Waltz wrote.

He then directed a personal remark at Soberón: "Considering this is the same regime that persecuted his own family, I would argue that Secretary Rubio's focus on Cuba is entirely justified."

Escalating Tensions at the UN

The previous day, the Cuban diplomat addressed the accredited press at the UN to vehemently oppose the event, describing it as a "politically motivated maneuver, questionably organized, with the clear aim of attacking Cuba, promoting a hostile narrative against our country, and using the United Nations facilities to advance the U.S. Government's political agenda against a sovereign member state."

Soberón showed journalists a copy of the invitation and the event's concept note—documents that, he claimed, reached his delegation despite not being invited—and questioned the event's secrecy: "Why so much secrecy?"

The Cuban representative also accused Washington of "double standards" for hosting the event while accumulating unpaid dues to the organization's budget, asserting that Rubio has an "unhealthy obsession with Cuba" and directly pressures heads of state to change their vote on the annual resolution against the embargo, scheduled for October 27 and 28.

"Cuba will not be intimidated, blackmailed, or silenced," Soberón declared in a video released by the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

Diplomatic Strain Amidst Embargo Vote

This exchange occurs amidst a diplomatic escalation leading up to the vote. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused Rubio of "pressuring and blackmailing" heads of state to alter the outcome, following reports that the Secretary of State called El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele to seek his support on the Cuban issue, arguing that "the Cuban regime will not enact the reforms the Cuban people deserve while it believes the international community is on its side."

The regime approaches this meeting with dwindling international support: its annual resolution dropped from 187 votes in favor in 2024 to 165 in 2025, with a record of seven votes against and 12 abstentions.

It's not the first time Waltz has confronted the regime in that building. In July 2026, during a special session called by Havana to discuss the embargo, the ambassador read the names of political prisoners like Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, and poet Duannis León Taboada before the General Assembly. He challenged the Cuban delegation's disruptions with a statement encapsulating Washington's stance: "This isn't Havana; we will speak and be heard, as your own people cannot."