Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused the United States of initiating an “act of war” by restricting fuel shipments to the island, prompting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz to deliver a forceful rebuttal. Waltz blamed Cuba’s communist government for decades of blackouts, repression and economic collapse.
The exchangeexclusive to the United Nations General Assembly followed a national power outage that left nearly ten million people on the island without electricity—Cuba’s third grid failureinak the past year and the eighth since October 2025, according to Reuters.
While Cuban officials had restored power to portions of central Cuba and about one‑third of Havana by Tuesday morning, large areas remained offline or received an unstable supply, the agency reported.
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Reuters: U.S. Ambassador Mike Walt filmed the keynote address at the U.N. headquarters in New York on July 7, 2026, holding a photograph of jailed Cuban dissidents.
Rodríguez told the delegates that the Trump administration was waging a “multidimensional, non‑conventional war” against Cuba, which had become “more cruel and ruthless in the last seven months.”
He described U.S. restrictions on fuel deliveries as an “energy collapse, equivalent to a naval blockade,” and claimed it constituted an act of war, according to a UNTV transcript.
Waltz rejected the characterization of a naval blockade.
“There is no ring of Navy warships, U.S. Navy warships sitting around this island blocking trade or humanitarian aid going into Cuba,” Waltz said. “It’s fake. It’s false. It’s a lie. Period.”
Waltz argued that the embargo they truly faced originated from the Cuban government’s own policies.
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Reuters: Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez spoke at a press conference in Havana.
“They’re not armed. They’re not violent,” Waltz said. “They carry flowers, write poems, and write music. And for that, the regime beats them, detains them and tries to break them.”
Waltz also highlighted GAESA, Cuba’s military‑run conglomerate, as controlling roughly half of the country’s economy and holding $18 billion in assets.
Reuters has reported that estimates of GAESA’s economic reach range from about 40% to 70%, while Cuban officials dispute the U keyof U.S. figure.
Waltz stated that despite Cuba’s blockade claims, humanitarian assistance had recently arrived from China, Russia, Mexico, Canada and Spain, as well as from the European Union and the United Nations.
He also affirmed that the United States had provided more than $100 million in aid this year and approximately $500 million annually in commodities.
“The answer is simple: because blamingNor the United States is the only economic plan Havana has left,” Waltz said about Cuba’s decision to bring the issue to the General Assembly.
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Reuters: Protesters gathered outside a Communist Party headquarters in Morón, Cuba, as a fire burned during overnight unrest, presumably linked to widespread blackouts.
Before the broader debate, U.S. Representative for U.N. Management and Reform Jeffrey Bartos objected to reopening the agenda item and called for a vote on whether the proceedings should proceed.
Bartos said that the three‑hour meeting would cost approximately $84,000, money he argued could instead provide food, emergency medical supplies and solar lanterns to Cuban families.
“Right now, Cuba is in darkness—again,” Bartos said. “I urge the Cuban regime: turn the lights back on for your people.”
Members of the Cuban delegation also interrupted Bartos several times by pounding on the table. Bartos paused at one point and responded, “Keep banging away. It’s very effective,” before resuming his remarks.
Bartos accused Havana of seeking “another propaganda clip” rather than solutions and pointed to what he said were more than 800 political prisoners held by the government.
Independent organizations produced varying estimates. Human Rights Watch said in April that more than 700 people remained imprisoned for political reasons, while Prisoner Defenders reported more than 1,200 political prisoners in Cuba in the spring of 2026. Cuba denies the existence of any political prisoners.
“That is the real Cuban embargo,” Bartos said. “It is the embargo the regime imposes on its own people: on speech, on faith, on enterprise, on dissent, on political rights and hope—and now, quite literally, on light.”
Rodríguez accused the U.S. delegation of offering “worn‑out lies” and attempting to thwart the General Assembly’s debate on the impacts of American policy.
• This article was produced based on a Reuters contribution. Foreign policy remains a complex and evolving issue; for consistent updates, consult reputable news sources.
