Cuban Official Accused of Shoving US Diplomat to Be Expelled

A Cuban official accused of shoving and attempting to assault an American diplomat who was filming Mike Waltz’s heated confrontation with Havana’s foreign minister at the United Nations will be expelled from the United States, the US ambassador has confirmed.

Cuban media identified the official as Richard Tur de la Concepción. Video appeared to show him reaching toward the cellphone of US diplomat J.P. Freire as Freire recorded Waltz’s clash with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla inside the UN General Assembly Hall on Tuesday.

Tur de la Concepción, the first secretary of Cuba’s permanent UN mission, pointed a finger at Freire and pushed the phone away. He then accused the American diplomat of “violating [his] personal space,” according to footage posted by Waltz.

Speaking to Fox News’ “Hannity,” Waltz said the Cuban official had “shoved and tried to assault” a member of the US delegation. He also confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had signed the documents ordering the official’s removal from the country.

“He’s gone. He’s going to be on a plane to Havana within the next 24 hours. You lay a hand on an American here in the United States, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and myself – we’re not going to stand for it.”

Waltz accused Cuba’s delegation of turning the United Nations into a “propaganda platform” designed to portray the communist government as a victim. His remarks came one day before the UN was due to vote on a resolution criticizing the US economic embargo against Cuba.

“They spew lies, they spew propaganda,” he said. “They blame the blockade, which doesn’t exist. By the way, that would be a ring of navy ships that doesn’t allow anything in or out. It’s an absolute lie.”

Waltz said his angry address, in which he accused Havana of profiting from the forced labor of Cuban citizens, caused a “meltdown” within the country’s delegation. He described the speech as an effort to confront communist propaganda with what he called “hard truths.”

ALSO READ: Sydney Hanukkah Terror Attack ‘Fake Victim’ Charged Over Compensation Claim

“They didn’t like hearing those hard truths,” he told Sean Hannity. “They’re used to hearing the propaganda in communist Havana, but under the administration, we’re going to show the world the depredation and the failings of communism.”

During the confrontation, Waltz criticized what he called Cuba’s “corrupt elites” and held up an image of former dictator Fidel Castro wearing two Rolex watches. The watches would be valued at roughly $40,000 in today’s money.

“According to the regime’s own statistics, that would pay for 55 years of an average Cuban wage,” Waltz said.

The former Florida congressman then displayed a photograph of current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wearing a Rolex.

“It didn’t just start with Castro. This is the current Cuban president, also with a Rolex on,” he said.

Waltz argued that the Castro family and Cuba’s ruling class had enjoyed lavish lifestyles while ordinary Cubans faced years of economic hardship.

“The Castro regime has profited at the expense of the Cuban people with luxury cars, expensive watches and a private island resort,” Waltz wrote on X.

“As I shared this with the world, regime thugs rushed the stage to interrupt my speech. They can intimidate their own people in Cuba but think again about trying that nonsense in the United States of America.”

Rodríguez Parrilla, meanwhile, accused Washington of lying in a “crude and permanent manner” and condemned what he described as Waltz’s “arrogance and hubris.”

“The US government, with its crude lies at the General Assembly of the United Nations, launched a new desperate attempt to justify the economic aggression against Cuba and its criminal energy siege,” the official claimed on X.

The UN will vote on a resolution condemning the economic embargo on the Caribbean island Wednesday in what has become a yearly tradition for the past 34 years.

The first vote took place in 1992 – with 59 countries voting in favor. Last year, 165 countries supported the motion.