U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz confirmed a Cuban diplomat is being expelled from the U.S. after a shouting match on the floor of the General Assembly on Tuesday.
While speaking with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Waltz said Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the paperwork to eject the secretary of the Cuban delegation, who Waltz said “shoved and tried to assault” an American diplomat.
“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 U.S., President Trump, Secretary Rubio and myself, we’re not gonna stand for it,” said Waltz.
The Washington Sun has emailed the Cuban Embassy and State Department for additional information. Waltz did not identify the expelled diplomat by name, but the title appears to correspond to Richard Tur de la Concepción, who is identified as the “first secretary” of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.
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The diplomatic dust-up kicked off Tuesday afternoon when Waltz and Cuba’s minister of foreign affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, got into an altercation while Waltz delivered a speech about the effects of the Castro regime on the General Assembly floor.
Footage circulating on social media shows Rodríguez approaching the stage as Waltz instructs him not to come closer.
“This individual needs to back away from this podium. He’s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America like he tries to intimidate political prisoners.”
An official in the clip responds, “This individual is the foreign minister for the Republic of Cuba.”
Waltz responds, pounding his fist on the podium and raising his voice, “And I’m the representative for the United States of America. Back up.”
Rodríguez shouts back, “You are a liar.”
The escalation began as Waltz discussed how Fidel Castro sent “thousands of gay people, Christians, Afro-Cubans and others to concentration camps,” prompting the Cuban delegation to begin pounding their hands at their table and request a point of order.
“It was the regime who stripped them of their property,” Waltz continued before stating: “I hope everyone, Mr. President, is listening to the delegation right now.”
Khalilur Rahman, the president of the U.N. General Assembly, requested that Waltz be able to finish his speech before Cuban officials raised their objections.
But Rodríguez continued to walk toward the podium, demanding a point of order.
Rahman struggled to maintain decorum and announced he’d be suspending the meeting.
During the same meeting, Waltz’s press secretary, J.P. Freire, was spotted recording de la Concepción up close, causing the Cuban diplomat to swat the phone away, footage shared by Waltz on social media shows.
In the clip, de la Concepción tells a security guard that Freire is “violating my personal space.”
The security guard then instructs de la Concepción to move to the side, and he disappears from the frame.
The Cuban Mission to the United Nations filed a complaint with the U.N. secretary-general regarding the incident, accusing Freire of harassment, stalking and invasion of personal space to provoke de la Concepción.
“The conduct of the US diplomat constituted a disrespectful act, violative of privacy and incompatible with the decorum and the respect of the personal dignity that should prevail in the United Nations,” the statement said.
The Cuban Mission is requesting the U.N. security department enact preventative measures against Freire to avoid similar future behavior.
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