The Trump administration expelled Cuban diplomat Richard Tur de la Concepción from the United States on Wednesday, a day after a heated exchange at the UN General Assembly between Cuba’s foreign minister and US Ambassador Michael Waltz. The State Department told Cuba’s UN mission that its first secretary was “not welcome” in the country.
The department’s announcement followed an incident in the UN’s main hall in which Concepción slapped away the phone of a US employee who was filming him at close range. Waltz accused the Cuban diplomat of assaulting the employee in a social media post. He later told Fox News that Concepción would be on a flight back to Havana that day.
The confrontation took place during a debate on a resolution calling for an end to the longstanding US embargo on Cuba. Speaking against the measure on Tuesday, Waltz accused Cuban leaders of repression, corruption and illicit enrichment. Members of Cuba’s delegation protested from their seats and approached the podium, prompting Waltz to pause his remarks and tell them to step back.
After the session was suspended, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla was given time to respond. He called Waltz a liar. At some point during or after the exchange, Concepción argued with the US employee. Video posted by Waltz showed Concepción standing near the podium and knocking the employee’s phone aside. He was heard saying the employee was violating his personal space. A UN staff member then escorted him away, and the account said he cooperated.
Waltz said Concepción had tried to intimidate UN staff into switching off his microphone to silence him. In a letter to the UN secretary-general’s office, Cuba’s UN ambassador formally protested the incident and said the US employee had harassed Concepción.
The dispute unfolded amid renewed pressure from the Trump administration on Cuba’s communist government. The resolution opposing the embargo received 130 votes this year, down from 165 the previous year. According to the UN press office, that was its lowest level of support in 20 years; the measure received 191 votes in 2015 and 2017. It was first proposed in 1992, when 59 countries supported it.
Sources: Folha Mundo.