Communist Cuban Regime Shows its True Colors at the United Nations

On October 27^th, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, delivered an address to the UN General Assembly in which he described the gross human rights abuses that have taken place in Cuba since Fidel Castro took power. The occasion was the annual meeting of the General Assembly to debate and then vote, as it invariably does, for a resolution calling for an end to the decades-old U.S. economic embargo against Communist Cuba.

Members of the Cuban delegation tried to disrupt Ambassador Waltz’s speech

Members of the Cuban delegation tried to disrupt Ambassador Waltz’s speech. Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla approached the podium and got into a shouting match with Ambassador Waltz while he was speaking. "You are a liar!" Rodríguez Parrilla exclaimed. Ambassador Waltz was having none of this display of rudeness and breach of UN protocol from the foreign minister.

“He's not going to intimidate me in the United States of America like he tries to intimidate political prisoners,” Ambassador Waltz said. “This isn't Havana. You’re not going to intimidate me. Do you understand who you're dealing with? This is America. Back up.”

The first secretary of Cuba's Permanent Mission to the UN escalated tensions to a physical level against a member of the American UN delegation who had been recording on his phone what took place inside the chamber. "He is leaving. He will be on a plane to Havana within the next 24 hours,” said Ambassador Waltz on Fox News’ 'Hannity' program. “If you lay a hand on an American here in the United States, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and I will not tolerate it."

Cuban regime have enriched themselves by pocketing billions of dollars for themselves 

Ambassador Waltz tried to use the Cuban delegation’s disruptive behavior as a teachable moment. “I hope everyone observed this today,” he said. “This is in a room in a free country, with cameras, with ambassadors, with diplomats. Imagine what happens if you dare to speak out under the iron fist of this regime. 

"Imagine what happens when no one is looking.” Ambassador Waltz went on to recount how the elitist leaders of the Cuban regime have enriched themselves by pocketing billions of dollars for themselves and living in luxury while allowing the Cuban population to live in poverty.

Ambassador Waltz denied that there was any U.S. military blockade preventing shipments of goods, fuel, and other materials from reaching Cuba. He noted the shipments to Cuba from the U.S. itself, Belize, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Uruguay, the European Union, and the United Nations.

“My message to Havana is simple: free the prisoners, stop exploiting your own people, tell the Cuban people and the world where the money has gone,” Ambassador Waltz said. “To my fellow ambassadors, do not hand Havana another propaganda victory. Don't lend your votes to the abuse of the Cuban people.”

But handing Havana another propaganda victory and voting to legitimize the Cuban regime’s horrendous human rights record is precisely what the General Assembly did, as expected. Cuba prevailed in the vote tally. The General Assembly approved the resolution calling for an end to the U.S. embargo. However, the UN members’ support for the resolution dwindled from previous years. It received 130 votes in favor, with 17 against and 25 abstentions, the lowest level of support for the resolution in three decades. While Cuba lost a bit of support this time, we can’t expect much more in the way of moral clarity from this UN body full of hypocrites.

Joseph A. Klein is the author of Global Deception: The UN’s Stealth Assault on America’s Freedom.