Rubio expels Cuban diplomat in a miscalculation of statecraft
By Tom Beckwith · Reporting from Washington ·
The Trump administration ejected Richard Tur de la Concepción after a UN scuffle, signaling a shift toward performative aggression that prioritizes domestic optics over sustainable diplomatic leverage.
The Trump administration is treating the United Nations General Assembly not as a forum for negotiation, but as a stage for a campaign rally. By expelling Richard Tur de la Concepción, the First Secretary of Cuba’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Washington has mistaken a tactical scuffle for a strategic opening. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ambassador Mike Waltz are substituting the patient work of diplomacy with a brand of performative aggression that serves a South Florida crowd but alienates the very capitals the United States needs to isolate Havana. This is not firmness; it is a miscalculation that prizes the optics of a shouting match over the actual capabilities of the state.
A scuffle as a catalyst
The incident began as a dispute between Mike Waltz and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla. According to the New York Post, Tur de la Concepción is accused of shoving US diplomat J.P. Freire, who was filming the encounter. Tur de la Concepción allegedly grabbed Freire's phone and pushed the device away, claiming Freire violated his personal space. Waltz characterized the act as an attempt to assault an American diplomat.
The response was swift. Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the paperwork to eject the official. Waltz told Fox News that Tur de la Concepción would be on a plane to Havana within 24 hours. The move transforms a diplomatic mission into a site of friction rather than a channel for communication.
The administration would argue that this is a necessary correction. They claim the Cuban regime uses the UN as a propaganda platform to paint itself as a victim. They see the expulsion as a just response to the intimidation of American staff. However, a phone swat is not a casus belli. Using a hallway scuffle to justify a broader campaign of hostility is not diplomacy; it is a provocation.
The machinery of regime change
Washington's interests in Cuba have shifted from containment to active destabilization. The capabilities to do this are now concentrated in the hands of Secretary Rubio. Federal records show Rubio issued Delegation of Authority No. 628 on August 4, 2026. This gives the Assistant Secretary for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs the power to review and deny requests to lift sanctions. It is a tool for rapid, administrative attrition.
This administrative leverage is now paired with a public call for subversion. Rubio posted on X that Cubans should seek a discrete partnership with the CIA. CNN reports that the CIA has already held preliminary discussions with Americans on the island and released a Spanish-language instructional video on how to contact the agency.
This approach shares a mechanism with the Iran-Contra affair. Both involve the use of covert operations to bypass legislative constraints to achieve regime change in a Caribbean or Latin American state. In both instances, the administration viewed the formal diplomatic process as an obstacle to be circumvented by intelligence assets. By publicly recruiting agents while expelling diplomats, the Trump administration is signaling that it no longer views the Cuban state as a legitimate partner for negotiation.
The math of the embargo
The long record of the UN General Assembly shows that this aggression has limited impact on global consensus. The first vote had 59 countries in favor. Last year, that number rose to 165.
Clarín and Al Jazeera report that the resolution passed. The increase in abstentions suggests that Trump's pressure is working on some capitals. Waltz pointed to this as proof that the world is seeing the failings of communism. He displayed photos of Fidel Castro and Miguel Diaz-Canel wearing Rolex watches. He noted one watch cost $40,000. He claimed that amount would pay for 55 years of an average Cuban wage.
But these figures are for the gallery. The interest of most UN members is not the luxury of Cuban officials, but the stability of international law. While the US may sway a few votes through economic threats, it cannot bully the majority into ignoring a six-decade embargo.
The cost of this strategy will be felt in five years. By treating diplomats as "regime thugs," the US is spending its credibility. When the word of the United States is reduced to the rhetoric of a rally, it ceases to carry weight in foreign capitals.
The administration is trading long-term diplomatic infrastructure for short-term domestic applause. By pairing the expulsion of a mid-level official with a public CIA recruitment drive, Washington has abandoned the boring, essential work of statecraft. This path leads not to a democratic Cuba, but to a more isolated United States and a Cuban regime that feels it has nothing left to lose.
Sources
- New York Post: Cuban official accused of shoving US diplomat during Mike Waltz's shouting match at UN to be kicked out of US: 'He's gone'
- CNN: Trump administration kicks out Cuban diplomat from US as tensions rise
- Al Jazeera: UN votes to condemn embargo of Cuba despite US lobbying push
- Clarín: La ONU condena el embargo de EEUU a Cuba, aunque más países se abstienen por presión de Trump