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UN again condemns US embargo on Cuba, but support drops to 130 votes

A day earlier, US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz and Cuba's foreign minister clashed, and the Wall Street Journal reports a Cuban diplomat was expelled.

12 news outlets reported this
Liberal4 outletsCenter3 outletsConservative5 outlets
Published 3 min read
Overview

On Wednesday the U.N. General Assembly passed, for the 34th time, a nonbinding measure that urges the U.S. to lift its embargo on Cuba. UPI reports the tally was 130 in favor, 17 against and 25 abstentions, down from 165-7 with 12 abstentions in 2025. Cuba had accused Washington of pressing governments to oppose the measure or abstain, and Waltz rejected that.

A day earlier, U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla shouted at each other during the debate. Waltz urged countries to reject the resolution and accused Cuba's leaders of corruption. Cuban delegates banged on their desks and asked for a point of order.

Rodríguez called Waltz a liar, and Waltz told him to back away from the podium, saying "This is America." The Journal reports the U.S. then expelled a Cuban diplomat. According to the Daily Wire, Waltz said on Fox's "Hannity" that Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered Cuban First Secretary Richard Tur de la Concepcion to leave within 24 hours.

Outlets have not reported a Cuban response to that account.

Three sides of the story

Liberal4 outlets

Left-leaning outlets place the confrontation inside the wider U.S. pressure campaign on Cuba. An AP text carried by ABC News, written before the vote, says the Trump administration openly worked to sway countries. It recalls the embargo's start in 1960 and says Trump's late-January oil threat effectively cut off fuel, causing outages that hit cooking, water, internet and phones.

It also notes Trump's remark that warships returning from the Iran war could stop in Cuba. The Independent adds that Cuban officials say new undercut the private-investment opening Washington asks for, and that Argentina, Ukraine and Hungary first opposed the measure last year. ABC's separate report gives a step-by-step account: Waltz's speech, the assembly president suspending the meeting, Rodríguez accusing Waltz of "grossly lying," and the foreign minister's X post.

It also recalls Waltz's 2025 Signal-chat episode. Waltz's corruption claims get a brief summary compared with the exchange itself.

Center3 outlets

Centrist outlets focus on the exchange and then on the vote. UPI's first report details Waltz's accusations against Castro-era leaders, including luxury goods and a Rolex photo, and quotes his X post calling Cuban delegates "regime thugs." It quotes Rodríguez calling the remarks "offensive" and asking that Waltz be called to order.

It notes Cuba's accusation that Rubio pressured governments, which Waltz rejected. UPI's vote report gives the 130-17-25 result against 165-7-12 last year, lists country-by-country shifts in Latin America and Europe, and quotes both men's X posts. It notes Rodríguez called the outcome "another victory for Cuba" and that the resolution does not require Washington to change policy.

BBC's brief item says the clash began after Waltz claimed Havana profited from citizens' forced labour. The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. expelled a Cuban diplomat after the clash.

Conservative5 outlets

Right-leaning outlets center on Waltz's case against Cuba's government and on the conduct of the Cuban delegation. Fox News reports his claims that leaders enrich themselves while people suffer, his "This isn't Havana" lines, and Rodríguez's reply that Waltz was "lying yet again." The Daily Caller adds video-based detail, including the New York Post's account of a Cuban diplomat grasping at spokesman J.P. Freire's phone, and links Rodríguez's X post to the 2025 Signal episode.

The Daily Wire's second piece reports that Waltz told Fox's "Hannity" that Rubio ordered a Cuban diplomat out within 24 hours. It describes Cuban officials with words such as "thuggish" and "unhinged." The Washington Times reports the resolution passed but that more countries voted against or sat out for the first time after the administration's push.

These pieces say little about fuel shortages or outages in Cuba.

All sources: 23 articles from 12 outlets

Liberal (8)

Center (7)

Conservative (8)

Wall Street

A street in New York where the stock exchange stands. In the news it means US financial markets and the big banks and investment firms as a whole.

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Tariff

A tax on imported goods, paid at the border by the importer, who usually passes some or all of it into prices. Governments use tariffs to protect their producers or to press the other side in a trade dispute.

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Sanctions

Penalties one country imposes on another, or on companies and people: freezing assets, banning trade, cutting off banks. The aim is to change behaviour without war.

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