Cuba tells the General Assembly general debate that the blockade, not Cuba, is the threat

26 September 2026

Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla addressed the general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He argued that long-running United States economic measures amount to collective punishment of ordinary Cuban families rather than any security need. He said an energy squeeze had been added to the older restrictions, and that more than 7,000 containers carrying food, medicine and medical equipment were held up in ports. He also said Washington had leaned on investors, limited tourism and pressed other governments to end Cuban medical missions abroad. Cuba rejected the Monroe Doctrine and any move to militarise Latin America and the Caribbean, recalling the 2014 proclamation of the region as a Zone of Peace. He told the Assembly that Havana remains ready for talks with Washington without preconditions, on a footing of sovereign equality. He added that the National Assembly of People's Power has adopted a programme to reshape the economic and social model while keeping the socialist constitutional order.