U.S. Criticizes Cuban Regime's Hostile Display at UN Against Dissidents: "A Mob of 'Diplomats'"

The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, publicly condemned on Tuesday the hostile demonstration that Cuban regime officials staged the previous day at the UN headquarters in New York. The incident targeted former political prisoners and Cuban activists participating in a forum organized by the U.S. mission.

Waltz shared a video on social media platform X showing a group of Cuban diplomats loudly confronting the panelists, labeling them as "terrorists" and "liars" while filming the proceedings. "Watch as a mob of 'diplomats' from the Cuban regime at the UN harass former political prisoners," Waltz remarked, emphasizing that these survivors of Cuba's prisons and forced labor camps were sharing "the harsh truths the world needs to hear."

The footage captures Cuban officials repeatedly shouting "Terrorists!" at the attendees. Waltz is also seen responding to the diplomats—led by Cuba's permanent representative Ernesto Soberón Guzmán—by gesturing a phone call, though the exact message was obscured by the surrounding uproar.

Forum for Truth: Exposing Havana's Repression

This confrontation unfolded at the conclusion of the "Cuba Libre: The Oppression Havana Hides" forum, organized by the U.S. mission and chaired by Waltz. Notable participants included José Daniel Ferrer, founder of UNPACU, and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, founder of the San Isidro Movement, both of whom are former political prisoners now living in exile.

Ferrer quickly reacted on Facebook, stating, "The Cuban communists just staged a repudiation act against us at the UN."

Exporting Intimidation: Regime's Repressive Tactics

Acts of repudiation are a notorious tactic of the Cuban regime, involving state-organized mobs who insult and attack dissidents. Monday's incident marks an alarming export of this practice to the world's most visible multilateral stage.

Soberón had attempted to halt the event, dismissing it as a "politically motivated maneuver, organized questionably, with the clear aim of attacking Cuba," while referencing a UN administrative directive. Waltz countered that if the regime was bothered by the allegations, it should cease the abuses being reported.

Mockery and Privilege: A Regime's Double Standards

On Wednesday, Soberón released a mocking video targeting Ferrer and Waltz. On social media, the Cuban delegation's behavior was derided with the term "diplochusma," highlighting their conduct at the UN.

The forum also provided Waltz a platform to criticize the privileges enjoyed by Cuba's ruling elite. He accused the regime of ensuring electricity for the Castro family's residential complex, a private jet, intelligence facilities, and a private island featuring 20 houses and a dolphin lagoon, while hospitals, schools, and homes across the country endure power outages.

This episode comes just days before the UN General Assembly's annual vote on Cuba's resolution against the U.S. embargo, scheduled for October 27 and 28. International support for the resolution has steadily declined, dropping from 187 votes in 2024 to 165 in October 2025, and falling to a mere 136 in the extraordinary session of July 2026, the lowest level in over a decade.