Trini Lathrop

“Do you understand who you are dealing with? This is America. Back up.” A United Nations meeting was dramatically suspended yesterday after US ambassador Mike Waltz and Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla both ignored the chair’s plea for order in the chamber. The problem started when Waltz blamed Cubans for the shocking US embargoes and blockades that are causing huge suffering to the people of the island. Cuban representatives, astonished at the way Waltz blamed the victims for the crisis, in their eyes, stood up and objected, citing Rule 71, which allows listeners to raise a point of order. Ambassador Waltz responded that the Cubans didn’t like the substance of his speech, so were not raising a point of order. But when complaints continued, this caused Ambassador Waltz to lose his temper and shout “Back up! Back away. Do you understand what you’re dealing with? This is America.” . INTERNATIONAL TERRITORY The rest of the United Nations was outraged by this attitude, as the UN building is legally international territory. When Waltz refused to stop his tirade, Khalilur Rahman, chair of the 81st session, ordered that the meeting be instantly suspended. Waltz ignored him. The meeting was then resumed, but footage of the argument created a huge storm on social media. Some people in the US defended Waltz’s narrative, blaming Cubans for the suffering caused by the US embargos. But much of the commentary from the rest of the world said that the United Nations, for the safety of the delegates and the organization itself, should no longer be situated in New York. When New York was originally chosen as the site, the US pledged not to politicize US visa access to meetings—but has regularly broken the pledge, such as refusing to allow visas for Palestinians. . .