US and Cuba clash at UN ahead of embargo vote
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The gist
US Ambassador Mike Waltz hosted a "Cuba Libre" panel at the UN as Cuba's envoy protested nearby.
The annual embargo vote is expected Oct 27-28, but only Congress can lift it.
Background
The US embargo on Cuba was first imposed in 1960, after Fidel Castro's revolution toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista and nationalized properties belonging to US citizens and corporations. Since 1992, the UN General Assembly has passed a non-binding resolution condemning the embargo every year by wide margins. This is the second year running that the Trump administration has campaigned to sway that vote, part of a wider push to force political change by cutting off fuel to the island. Cuba is in its worst economic recession in decades, with severe shortages of basic goods and collapsing infrastructure.
How it unfolded
- Oct 19, 2026US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz hosted a "Cuba Libre" panel with dissidents and former prisoners, while Cuban Ambassador Ernesto Soberón Guzmán gathered diplomats and allies nearby to protest what he called a sham event. Cuban representatives yelled at Waltz as he left the UN building.
- Oct 20, 2026Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called a Florida arrest warrant against former president Raúl Castro a "pathetic Miami circus" with an "electoral" background. Separately, he presided over a Cuban Culture Day meeting at the Palace of the Revolution.
- Oct 27, 2026 -28, 2026The UN vote on the resolution is expected to take place, officials said.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Waltz said the panel showed "the oppression that Havana wants to hide" and urged countries to look past "70 years of propaganda" and vote against the resolution.
- Official
- Soberón Guzmán said the US is "acting as an international delinquent, enforcing collective punishment on the people of Cuba" and inflicting suffering on a peaceful nation.
- Party
- Díaz-Canel said the Miami arrest order against Raúl Castro has "no, and will never have, the slightest legal sense" and rejected what he called a legal dressing maneuver by anti-Cuban politicians.
Still unverified
The US event included explicit footage of what appeared to be Cuban citizens being detained, and panelists described being tortured and persecuted for years for speaking out against the government; Havana has long denied holding political prisoners, while activist groups say thousands are imprisoned for political reasons.