US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz clashed with Cuba's delegation at the UN General Assembly after Cuba's foreign minister accused Washington of committing an "act of war" by restricting fuel shipments to the island. Waltz hit back forcefully, blaming Cuba's communist government for years of blackouts, repression and economic collapse, and telling the delegation "this is not Havana" as they attempted to disrupt his speech by banging on their desks. The exchange highlights sharply escalating tensions between the two governments amid Cuba's deepening energy crisis.

The confrontation came a day after Cuba's national electrical grid collapsed, leaving nearly 10 million people without power in the third nationwide failure this year and the eighth since October 2025, according to Reuters. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said the Trump administration was waging a "multidimensional, non-conventional war" and likened US fuel restrictions to a naval blockade. Waltz rejected this outright, insisting there was no ring of US Navy warships around the island and arguing that the real embargo was the one Cuba's regime imposes on its own people.