The United States expelled Cuban diplomat Richard Tur de la Concepción following a fierce altercation at the UN General Assembly Hall on October 27, 2026. US Ambassador Mike Waltz accused Havana's elite of corruption, prompting Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla to interrupt the speech at the podium. Meanwhile, the UN voted 130-17 to condemn the US embargo on Cuba, though international support dropped amid a mounting US economic campaign.
Expulsion of Cuban diplomat Richard Tur de la Concepción
- ▪On October 28, 2026, the US State Department confirmed that Cuban diplomat Richard Tur de la Concepción had departed the United States following his expulsion.
- ▪US Ambassador Mike Waltz stated that Cuban diplomat Richard Tur de la Concepción was ordered expelled after pushing away the cellphone of US diplomat J.P. Freire during the UN altercation.
- ▪On October 27, 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed paperwork to expel Richard Tur de la Concepción, the first secretary of Cuba's Permanent Mission to the UN, from the United States.
- ▪The Cuban Mission to the UN sent a letter to the UN Secretary General stating that an American diplomat invaded a Cuban diplomat's personal space to film him for social media.
Verbal confrontation at the UN General Assembly
- ▪During his October 27, 2026 speech at the UN General Assembly, US Ambassador Mike Waltz accused Cuba's leadership of enjoying luxury lifestyles while ordinary Cubans faced economic hardship.
- ▪Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla interrupted US Ambassador Mike Waltz's speech at the UN General Assembly on October 27, 2026, approaching the podium and accusing Waltz of lying.
- ▪On October 27, 2026, a heated verbal confrontation erupted at the UN General Assembly Hall between US Ambassador Mike Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla during a session on the US embargo against Cuba.
- ▪During the October 27, 2026 UN confrontation, US Ambassador Mike Waltz yelled at Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla to back away from the podium, shouting 'This is America' as UN security intervened.
UN General Assembly vote on Cuba embargo
- ▪Several Western nations including Germany, Italy, and Latvia abstained from the October 28, 2026 UN vote on the Cuba embargo, while countries including Colombia, Ecuador, and Morocco voted against the resolution for the first time.
- ▪On October 28, 2026, the UN General Assembly voted 130 to 17, with 25 abstentions, to pass a non-binding resolution condemning the US economic embargo against Cuba.
- ▪International support for the UN resolution condemning the US embargo against Cuba declined on October 28, 2026 compared to 2025, when over 160 countries voted in favor and 12 abstained.
US measures targeting Cuba's oil supply
- ▪In late January 2026, US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on any country selling or delivering oil to Cuba in an effort to force political changes in Havana.
- ▪Cuba's severe energy crisis worsened after US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, disrupting Venezuelan oil shipments to the island.
- ▪The US oil tariff campaign cut off fuel supplies to Cuba, triggering widespread power outages that disrupted basic public services including water supply and communications.
Trump rhetoric on Cuba
- ▪US President Donald Trump raised the prospect of U.S. military action against Cuba, stating American warships returning from Iran could make a stopover in Cuba.
- ▪US President Donald Trump previously raised the prospect of a 'friendly takeover' of Cuba while describing the island as a failed country.
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