Cuban delegation approached Mike Waltz's podium at United Nations

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla and other members of the Cuban delegation moved toward Mike Waltz's podium while the U.S. ambassador spoke at the United Nations. Their approach briefly interrupted the session during debate over the U.S. embargo on Cuba. After the incident, the White House released a message supporting Waltz in response to the Cuban representatives' movement toward the lectern.

Rodríguez came within a few meters of the podium accompanied by members of the Cuban delegation. The interruption occurred while the U.S. diplomat addressed attendees, and the session stopped briefly. The episode came before another embargo vote. The exchange between representatives of both countries therefore unfolded at a U.N. meeting centered on an issue politically dividing Washington and Havana.

During his address, Waltz displayed images and discussed luxuries he attributed to Cuba's ruling elite. Among the objects he mentioned were Rolex watches associated with Fidel Castro, which he valued at $40,000. The ambassador said that sum equaled 55 years of the average Cuban salary. These statements were part of his address when Rodríguez and other delegation members approached the podium.

Waltz also accused the Cuban government of profiting at the population's expense through luxury goods. That claim belongs to the ambassador's speech and is not presented as an independent conclusion. The White House responded publicly by supporting his conduct and rejecting the possibility of such intimidation occurring in the United States. The reaction followed the Cuban delegation's interruption.

The incident involved Cuba's foreign minister and the U.S. ambassador at a U.N. session about the embargo. Another vote on the policy was scheduled after the episode, according to the described sequence. Tension arose while Waltz addressed delegates and presented criticism of privileges among Cuba's leadership. The intervention by Rodríguez and his companions briefly stopped the session.