EXCLUSIVE — U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley is demanding the U.N. Secretary General take action against the Bolivian and Cuban delegations after they disrupted a U.S. event to draw attention to the plight of political prisoners in Cuba — damaging U.N. property in the process.
The event on Tuesday, “Jailed for What? The plight of Cuba’s political prisoners,” which took place in the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chamber, descended into chaos when diplomats from the two countries — including Bolivian Ambassador Sacha Llorenti — started banging on tables and screaming slogans in an effort to derail the event. Speakers, including former prisoners and relatives of those currently imprisoned under the communist regime, struggled to be heard over the noise.
In a letter to Secretary General Antonio Guterres, sent Friday and obtained by Fox News, Haley said the behavior by the Cuban and Bolivian diplomats was “outrageous” and called for action from Guterres.
“Due to the outrageous behavior of the Cuban and Bolivian U.N. delegations, this diplomatic event became a mob scene, and resulted in significant damage to U.N. property,” the letter says. “I respectfully call on you to condemn this extremely unprofessional conduct and require the Cuban and Bolivian delegations to pay for the property damage they caused.”
Haley said that the U.N. initially said the U.S would be contacted to pay for the damage to desks and earphones, but U.N. officials eventually said that the U.N. itself would bear the cost.
Haley called this “completely unacceptable” considering the U.S. is the largest contributor to the U.N. budget, and pays 22 percent of the budget — and therefore of any repair cost as well. Instead, Haley demanded that the Bolivian and Cuban delegations be made to bear the cost.
In a statement to Fox News, Haley was no less scathing in her assessment of the behavior by the delegations.
“Cuba’s UN delegation destroyed property with their…
