Press Release from the Embassy of Cuba in the United States
Washington, D.C., June 3, 2025 – On Tuesday morning, Johana Tablada, Deputy General Director for the United States of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a press conference with U.S. media and accredited agencies in this country.
During the exchange, Tablada explained how, since January 20, 2025, the United States has intensified its economic war against Cuba with the deliberate aim of destroying its economy and lowering the living standards of its population for purposes of destabilization, interference, and domination.
She also denounced the falsehoods used by the current U.S. government to justify its hardline policy against Cuba, particularly the baseless criminalization of Cuba’s medical cooperation with other countries, the unfounded accusations about Chinese military bases on Cuban soil, and other pretexts designed to portray Cuba as a threat to the U.S.
She called attention to the double standard of the U.S. State Department, which has cut funding for international programs on childhood vaccines and HIV prevention while continuing to finance interference operations, disinformation campaigns, and regime-change efforts against Cuba.
Tablada stated that this false narrative only benefits special interest groups that profit from the lack of ties between our two countries and whose main goal is to justify new coercive measures against Cuba—a nation that has never taken such actions against the United States.
She described the sanctions imposed on the Cuban people as "medieval and cruel." Among the harshest measures, she cited the illegal penalization and persecution of tourism, fuel imports to Cuba, financial transactions, investments, remittances, the suspension of bilateral cooperation, harassment of travelers, and intimidation of third countries.
Tablada pointed out that the U.S. government broke its commitment to Pope Francis by abruptly reversing its decision to remove Cuba from the so-called "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list and instead tightened the economic blockade. Cuba, on the other hand, has upheld its commitments, including those under migration agreements and the release of detainees.
She affirmed that Cuba will continue promoting peace and fostering ties with the American people and Cubans residing in the U.S. She urged closer scrutiny of the U.S. Secretary of State’s personal agenda in foreign policy, which seeks to sabotage bilateral relations, provoke an unjust escalation of aggression against Cuba, and push both nations toward unwanted and unnecessary confrontation.
“U.S. policy is lost in fiction and must return to reality,” she stated. She added that as neighboring countries that have successfully implemented 22 bilateral agreements, the focus should be on cooperation in areas such as hurricane preparedness, combating drug trafficking, addressing irregular migration, epidemic prevention, and religious, cultural, and academic exchanges—rather than navigating artificially constructed obstacles in relations.