Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla exposed the hypocrisy of the U.S. Permanent Representative, Mike Waltz, during the UN General Assembly, after Waltz had earlier addressed the island's situation.
The minister displayed photographs in the international body's hall illustrating the damage caused by the blockade imposed by Washington's government on his country, especially the energy siege, including images of surgeons operating with only a mobile phone as a light source.
He also recalled the abuses by U.S. immigration authorities when detaining a five-year-old child and the image of a woman who died due to tactics applied by that entity's personnel.
"The U.S. representative referred to corruption. Surprisingly, this comes from a representative of the current government, which is known to be a true plutocracy. Institutional and legal corruption. A country where money and corporations rule. Where voters are manipulated," he said.
He also called Waltz's references to Cuban international medical cooperation slanderous, emphasizing that its mission is to serve populations in remote, low-income areas.
Rodríguez warned that the United States denies the blockade. "I invite Mr. Waltz to read the White House spokesperson's statements of March 30 or those of the U.S. president himself from the day before, which confirm the existence of the blockade, particularly the total hydrocarbon siege," he said.
The Foreign Minister stated that the U.S. representative offends the Cuban people when citing Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, "whom successive U.S. governments could never defeat."
"He has implicitly referred to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro, and I reiterate on his behalf that he still has his foot in the stirrup, ready to ride in defense of our homeland," he asserted.
He also emphasized that President Miguel Díaz-Canel, whose name Waltz also mentioned, "is a distinguished son of the Revolution, who — unlike you and U.S. politicians— will share the same fate as the rest of our people" in the event of imperialist aggression.
Finally, he reaffirmed that Cuba will never surrender its sovereignty and independence, for which its best sons have already died.
He concluded with a phrase from Cuba's independence hero Antonio Maceo, who declared: "Whoever tries to seize Cuba will only gather the dust of its soil soaked in blood, if they do not perish in the struggle." (CubaSí)
