Cuba’s Deputy Director of U.S. Affairs Johana Tablada offered a sobering but impassioned critique of current U.S. policy toward Cuba, where she called on Americans — especially African Americans — to pay closer attention to the consequences of decades-long sanctions and misinformation.
In an interview at Black Press USA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., Tablada described the current relationship between the U.S. and Cuba as being “at a low point,” marked by “maximum aggression” from the U.S. government.
“It is difficult to describe this as anything but open hostility,” she told Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade association representing more than 200 African American newspapers and media companies. “This year alone, since Jan. 20, the U.S. has imposed more than a dozen unilateral coercive measures against Cuba.”
Recently, the Trump administration signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) regarding Cuba, supporting an “economic embargo” on Cuba and enforcing “the statutory ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba,” and reversing Cuban-American relations that had been advanced by his predecessor.
“This NSPM restores and strengthens the robust Cuba policy from the president’s first term, reversing the Biden administration’s revocation that eased pressure on the Cuban regime,” according to a June 30 White House fact sheet on the NSPM.
The sanctions — from his inauguration in January to the late-June NSMP — Tablada noted, go far beyond restricting trade; they include denying visas to Cuban athletes and scientists, interfering with cultural exchanges, and cutting remittances through Western Union.
“The Cuban Olympic Committee’s president wasn’t granted a visa to attend events in the U.S.,” she said. “And this during a cycle leading up to the Olympics in Los Angeles.”
Tablada specifically pointed to the Trump administration’s reinstatement of Cuba on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as fraudulent and damaging.
“It’s a designation based on lies,” she said. “And when a country is placed on that list, it becomes nearly impossible to receive oil, medical supplies, or even financial transfers due to global banking fears.”
She drew a sharp contrast between the current state of U.S.-Cuba policy and the optimism that accompanied President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Havana in 2016.
“We had a breakthrough,” she declared. “We were talking and engaging respectfully—even when we disagreed. That’s no longer happening.”
Cuban Connections With Africa, African American Community
Throughout the 40-minute interview, Tablada spoke fondly of the long-standing solidarity between Cuba and the African American community.
She invoked the legacy of Malcolm X, the symbolism of his 1960 meeting with Fidel Castro in Harlem, and Cuba’s military support for liberation movements in Angola and South Africa.
“Cuba is the only country in Latin America that went back to Africa and fought and died to end apartheid,” she said. “That bond with the African diaspora is deep and permanent.”
She noted that Cuban identity and culture are inextricably linked to Africa.
“Our music, our food, our sense of honor—it all comes from Mother Africa. And we have a responsibility to protect that legacy,” she remarked.
‘Provoked Suffering and Hardship‘
Tablada called the decades-long U.S. embargo — enforced through a patchwork of laws, including the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act, the Helms-Burton Act, and the Torricelli Act — an unprecedented and inhumane measure.
“There is no other country in the world that faces this level of comprehensive economic warfare,” she said. “It’s not just unfair; it’s provoked suffering and hardship.”
She added that Cuba has never retaliated with sanctions or actions against the United States, highlighting the one-sided nature of the policy.
The diplomat also pushed back on U.S. accusations of forced labor in Cuba’s international medical missions.
“We operate in 56 countries with agreements supported by the United Nations,” she said. “Yes, those missions generate income to fund our free health care system—but calling that human trafficking is a grotesque lie. The U.S. is spending millions to manufacture pretexts for aggression.”
Tablada warned that U.S. policies are even affecting tourism and access to energy.
“Today, the U.S. actively blocks vessels from delivering oil to Cuba. It pressures other countries to deny Cuba tourism access,” she asserted. “And then it blames us for the resulting blackouts and scarcities. This is not diplomacy. This is punishment.”
Tablada Offers Call to Action
Despite the challenges, Tablada expressed hope in the people of the United States.
“I believe that if Americans—especially African Americans—knew the full truth, they would reject these policies,” she said. “Because they have always stood on the side of justice, from civil rights to solidarity with global liberation movements.”
She extended an invitation for the Black Press of America to work with Cuban journalists to strengthen the exchange of truth.
“Let’s put Cuba back on the radar,” she said. “The people of both countries want peace, not conflict.”
While Tablada admitted to a lot of challenges, she said she still has hope based on two factors: “Our youth and the truth.”
“When people talk to each other honestly, Tablada continued, “good things happen.”
As Cuba’s deputy director of U.S. Affairs, Tablada said she would welcome a conversation with President Trump himself.
“Let’s talk. Cuba is not an enemy of the United States,” she said. “Let’s stop the lies and sit down. Every time we’ve done that, progress followed.”