The Cuban diplomat expelled by the United States who was chosen as a UN expert ten days after the incident

Richard Tur de la Concepción will join the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions from 2027 to 2029. (Image courtesy)Richard Tur de la Concepción was elected by acclamation as a UN expert for the 2027-2029 period, barely ten days after the United States declared him persona non grata and expelled him following an assault on a U.S. official at United Nations headquarters. The Cuban diplomat will join the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, as reported by CiberCuba. The appointment took place on Friday, November 6, after an adverse week for Havana at the General Assembly. The annual resolution against the U.S. embargo was approved on October 28 with 130 votes in favor, 17 against, and 25 abstentions, compared to the 187 votes Cuba had obtained two years earlier. The Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, known as ACABQ, is composed of 21 members elected in their personal capacity by the General Assembly, not as representatives of their governments. The body advises the United Nations on its budget and administration. Election by acclamation means there was no other candidate for the seat assigned to Cuba's regional group, or that the members of the Assembly raised no formal objections to his candidacy. The UN General Assembly approved the resolution against the embargo with 130 votes in favor, compared to the 187 obtained two years earlier. (Image courtesy)Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla celebrated the result on X with "warm congratulations" to Tur. He defined the appointment as "a new victory for Cuba and a recognition of his outstanding work in favor of multilateralism and the work of the Organization." Tur thanked Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known as MINREX, and the team of the Cuban mission to the UN "for the tremendous work done in this election." He also reaffirmed "the commitment to sound management of the UN." On October 27, during the General Assembly's annual debate on the embargo, Tur tried to snatch the phone from J. P. Freire, head of Strategic Communications for the U.S. mission and spokesman for Ambassador Mike Waltz. While Freire was recording the confrontation, the Cuban diplomat took several swipes at him. That night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the expulsion order. Waltz said on Fox News that Tur "would be on a plane bound for Havana within the next 24 hours" and warned: "If you put a hand on an American here in the United States, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and I myself will not tolerate it." Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla described the Cuban diplomat's appointment as a new victory for the island's multilateralism. (Image courtesy)The State Department confirmed his departure from the country on October 29 and called the Cuban regime "incompetent." A spokesperson for the institution said its tactics were those of "intimidation and oppression" and stated: "We have made clear to the Cuban mission that this individual is not welcome in the United States." The reception in Havana contrasted with the expulsion. First Deputy Minister Gerardo Peñalver Portal welcomed Tur at José Martí International Airport along with about a dozen MINREX officials. On November 2, the Cuban foreign ministry organized a welcome event at its headquarters with some 40 to 50 people. Rodríguez Parrilla described the diplomat's conduct as "firm and courageous" and as "an example for Revolutionary Diplomacy." The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, FHRC, added Tur to its list of Cuban repressors one day after the incident. The organization also pointed to his alleged ties with Cuban intelligence: investigations by Martí Noticias and the FHRC maintain that his father operated as an officer of the MII Intelligence Department under diplomatic cover in Bolivia, Paraguay, and Jamaica.