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STORY: UN / CUBA US EMBARGO
TRT: 03:17
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 07 JULY 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
07 JULY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, General Assembly
3. Wide shot, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla walks up to General Assembly rostrum
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cuba:
“Access to fuel supplies to Cuba, both commercial and humanitarian, is prevented through direct threats, unilateral coercive actions, and even the harassment or intimidation of tankers by US military naval means.”
5. Wide shot, Rodríguez Parrilla at the GA rostrum
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cuba:
“The blockade suffocates and kills silently. Addressing this ruthless crime is also a responsibility of the United Nations. The United States government, and especially its State Department, spreads the lie that the blockade is not directed against the Cuban people, but only against the government. Ask the Cuban people if they suffer from the blockade or not.”
7. Wide shot, Rodríguez Parrilla at the GA rostrum
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cuba:
“The hostility and threats that Cuba faces today are part of a worrying sequence of violations of international law and are a prelude to what could happen to any other country tomorrow.”
9. Wide shot, United States Ambassador Mike Waltz walks up to General Assembly rostrum
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Waltz, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“Somehow, conveniently, there always seems to be enough power for the regime, for the Cuban dictatorship. There's enough power right now as we speak for the Castro family's compounds. They have electricity. There's enough power for the regime's offices, including, apparently, enough to type up today's remarks blaming America once again, year after year, for the crisis they have created. There will be, I promise you, enough power for the Cuban propaganda shop to clip and post and translate their lies they're spreading in this body once again around the world.”
11. Wide shot, Waltz at the GA rostrum
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Waltz, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“On July 11th, 2021, thousands of Cubans filled the streets and demanded freedom. You can pound away, my friend. This is not Havana. This is the United States of America. This is the United Nations. And we will speak. We will be heard, and we will not be silenced like your own people, so pound away.”
13. Med shot, Cuban delegation
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Waltz, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“Let's talk about this so-called blockade. I would ask you if there is an embargo, and I'm looking at some of the delegations here. If there's an embargo, a blockade, whatever name they want to put on it. How did humanitarian aid from Belize, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the European Union, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Uruguay and the UN itself reached the country just in the last few months?”
15. Wide shot, GA
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla today (7 Jul) told the General Assembly that “the hostility and threats that Cuba faces today are part of a worrying sequence of violations of international law and are a prelude to what could happen to any other country tomorrow.” UNIFEED
After a procedural vote on whether or not to hold the debate, Rodriguez Parrilla told the GA that access to fuel in Cuba “is prevented through direct threats, unilateral coercive actions, and even the harassment or intimidation of tankers by US military naval means.”
He said, “the United States government, and especially its State Department, spreads the lie that the blockade is not directed against the Cuban people, but only against the government. Ask the Cuban people if they suffer from the blockade or not.”
United States Ambassador Mike Waltz for his part said, “conveniently, there always seems to be enough power for the regime, for the Cuban dictatorship. There's enough power right now as we speak for the Castro family's compounds. They have electricity. There's enough power for the regime's offices, including, apparently, enough to type up today's remarks blaming America once again, year after year, for the crisis they have created. There will be, I promise you, enough power for the Cuban propaganda shop to clip and post and translate their lies they're spreading in this body once again around the world.”
As Waltz was speaking, Rodríguez Parrilla begun banging on his desk, calling for a point of order.
The US Ambassador said, “you can pound away, my friend. This is not Havana. This is the United States of America. This is the United Nations. And we will speak. We will be heard, and we will not be silenced like your own people, so pound away.”
He asked, “if there's an embargo, a blockade, whatever name they want to put on it. How did humanitarian aid from Belize, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the European Union, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Uruguay and the UN itself reached the country just in the last few months?”
Today’s General Assembly special session was held at Cuba’s request, to debate the necessity of ending the US economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba, the first time the GA takes up the issue outside its usual scheduled date in October, amid growing humanitarian concerns.
