On Monday, Cuban regime diplomats staged a protest at the United Nations headquarters in New York, targeting activists attending the event "Free Cuba: The Oppression Havana Hides," organized by the United States Permanent Mission to the UN.
José Daniel Ferrer, a former political prisoner and founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), quickly took to Facebook to denounce the incident: "The Cuban communists just staged a demonstration against us at the @UN."
Ferrer reported that the Cuban diplomats shouted "terrorists" and "get out of the UN" at the panelists during the event, which was broadcast live on UN Web TV for nearly two hours.
The Context of the Panel Discussion
The panel focused on the plight of political prisoners in Cuba, allegations of human trafficking involving Cuban medical professionals, and regime corruption. Ferrer was joined by artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who was released from five years in prison and forced to leave Cuba in July 2026, and Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat, co-founder of the Cuban Democratic Directorate and a regular participant in international human rights forums.
Exporting Repressive Tactics
Acts of repudiation are a hallmark of the regime's repressive tactics: state-organized mobs that insult, threaten, and assault dissidents and activists within Cuba. Monday's episode marks an exportation of this tactic to the world's most visible multilateral stage.
Diplomatic Tensions and Controversies
The event took place amid heightened diplomatic tensions. Cuba's permanent representative to the UN, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, had tried to prevent the event, describing it as a "politically motivated maneuver, questionably organized, with the clear purpose of attacking Cuba."
Soberón argued that the event violated UN administrative instruction ST/AI/2019/4, which requires events on its premises to align with the Charter's purposes. "The United Nations is not a platform for political persecution, interference in States' internal affairs, or campaigns aimed at undermining their sovereignty," he stated.
Responses from the International Community
The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, countered by noting that the event brought together former political prisoners and experts on forced labor and corruption, defending Secretary of State Marco Rubio's approach to Cuba as "perfectly healthy."
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla accused Rubio of "pressuring and blackmailing" world leaders to change their vote in the annual General Assembly vote on the U.S. embargo on Cuba, scheduled for October 27 and 28.
International support for the resolution has steadily declined: 187 votes in 2024, 165 in October 2025, and just 136 in the extraordinary session of July 2026, the lowest level in over a decade.
More than 554 Cuban activists and organizations, including Ferrer and Gutiérrez Boronat, published a letter urging democratic governments to vote against or abstain on October 28, arguing that supporting the resolution benefits the regime, not the Cuban people. The initiative gained over 1,000 total endorsements.
The Deputy Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Juan Pablo Segura, warned that supporting the Cuban resolution "delays the urgent need for political and economic reforms" on the island.
Understanding the Diplomatic Dispute over Cuba
What was the purpose of the "Free Cuba" event at the UN?
The event aimed to highlight the oppression in Cuba, focusing on political prisoners, human trafficking of Cuban medical professionals, and regime corruption.
How did Cuban diplomats react during the UN event?
Cuban diplomats disrupted the event by shouting "terrorists" and demanding the panelists leave the UN, in an effort to intimidate and silence them.
What has been the international response to Cuba's actions at the UN?
There has been criticism from the U.S. and other democratic governments, highlighting a decline in international support for resolutions favoring the Cuban regime.