# Cuba Welcomes Home the Diplomat the U.S. Expelled After the U.N. Confrontation With Waltz's Spokesman

A Cuban foreign ministry official praised Richard Tur for facing the U.S. delegation 'in a firm and dignified manner' and did not mention the incident. Breitbart reports Cuba is still pushing his candidacy for a U.N. budget body.

- Section: [World](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/world/)
- Published: 2026-10-31
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/cuba-welcomes-home-richard-tur-diplomat-expelled-after-confronting-waltz-spokesman-un-breitbart/

Cuba is treating the diplomat the United States threw out this week as a hero, Breitbart News reports.

The welcome. Cuban officials greeted Richard Tur on Thursday with a large Cuban flag, according to a photo posted by First Vice Minister Gerardo Peñalver Portal of the foreign ministry. Peñalver said, "We received in the nation the young diplomat" who "in a firm and dignified manner faced the disrespectful and provocative attitude of the U.S. delegation." Breitbart says he made no mention of the physical confrontation.

The incident. Breitbart says Tur was part of a Cuban effort to disrupt U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz and other speakers criticizing the regime's human rights record ahead of the annual U.N. vote on the U.S. embargo. Waltz spokesman J.P. Freire posted video Tuesday of Tur approaching him in the General Assembly and trying to take his phone. Freire said Tur later claimed recording him would violate his privacy, and noted that Tur's own team was filming the chamber. Waltz said Wednesday on TV that Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the paperwork to expel the diplomat, adding, "You lay a hand on an American here in the United States... there will be consequences."

The vote. Breitbart says Cuba's resolution got 130 votes this week, down from 165 a year ago, its lowest total, as covered in our earlier story.

What is next. Peñalver said U.S. officials were trying to "hamper" both the vote and Tur's candidacy for a seat on the U.N.'s Consultative Commission on Administrative and Budgeting Matters for 2027 to 2029. Breitbart says it is unclear whether the expulsion affects that bid. It also reports, citing Diario de Cuba, that Tur is the son of longtime regime diplomat Ricardo Tur Novo and is married to another member of the delegation.

Note for readers: Breitbart's piece is written with a strong point of view. The account of the confrontation rests on Freire's video and statements and on Waltz's remarks, and Cuba's side is limited to what Peñalver said publicly. We have not seen the video ourselves.

## Source

Original reporting: [Breitbart](https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2026/10/30/cuba-gives-heros-welcome-to-thug-diplomat-expelled-from-america-for-u-n-attack/)