US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz found himself in a heated exchange with Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla on Tuesday, when Parrilla walked up to Waltz’s podium during his remarks and accused him of dishonesty.
Waltz devoted his entire Tuesday speech to criticizing Cuba’s government as corrupt, pointing out that its leaders enjoy private islands and expensive Rolex watches while blaming them for Cuba’s current struggles—all despite the US continuing to prevent fuel from reaching the island. This is the current Cuban President, also with a Rolex on. Parrilla disrupted Waltz’s address by raising a point of order, contending that the General Assembly’s procedural rules had been breached. Waltz then redirected his attention to General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman. “Mr. President, this individual needs to back away from this podium, he’s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America like he tries to do to political prisoners! I’m the representative of the United States of America, back up!”
He cited Rule 71, which establishes that a representative may invoke a point of order, and stipulates that the President shall promptly rule on such points in accordance with established procedural guidelines.
“According to the regime’s own statistics, that would pay for 55 years of an average Cuban wage,” Waltz said, before displaying a picture of Miguel Díaz-Canel and saying, “It didn’t just start with Castro. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla advanced toward the podium and leveled accusations of dishonesty against Waltz, prompting the US envoy to shout: “Back up” While Waltz was speaking.
