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The Cuban diplomat Johana Tablada de la Torre, known for her fervent defense of the Havana regime and her systematic attacks against the United States, reappeared this Sunday on social media to comment on the massive protests of the “Sin Reyes” (No Kings) movement that have shaken dozens of American cities in recent days.
In a message posted on her Facebook account, the official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) wrote: “While the 'Embassy' [of the U.S.] gives moral lessons to justify the criminal blockade that punishes us mercilessly... over there in your country, people are not very happy with the policies of your government.”
The ambassador appointed by the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel showed no hesitation or moral scruples in celebrating the manifestations of popular discontent in American democracy, while her reaction to the civic protests of Cubans against the regime is dismissed by her as examples of manipulation, servility, and acts against the constitutional order committed by criminals, drunkards, and mercenaries of the “empire.”
The Diplomacy of Cynicism
Tablada, former Deputy Director General for the United States at MINREX until her recent promotion, is a staunch defender of the Cuban totalitarian apparatus, a regime that suppresses even the slightest expression of dissent and punishes those who exercise basic rights such as freedom of assembly and speech with imprisonment.
It is paradoxical —and for many, insulting— that an official from a government that imprisons, beats, and slanders its own citizens for protesting would dare to comment sarcastically on the discontent of Americans who are protesting in the streets.
In Cuba, any civic mobilization not called for by the Communist Party is classified as "counter-revolutionary provocation." This was the case with the protests of July 11, 2021, when hundreds of thousands of Cubans took to the streets to demand "freedom" and "food," and the regime responded with police violence, summary trials, and sentences of up to 25 years in prison.
Since then, Tablada de la Torre has publicly defended those actions, justifying them as a “legitimate response to vandalism” and repeating the official narrative that the protesters were “manipulated by the United States.”
If the "No Kings" protests had taken place in Havana, Ciego de Ávila, or Santiago, the diplomat would not have published an ironic post, but rather probably a rallying cry accusing the participants of being "mercenaries," "criminals," or "agents of the empire," terms commonly used by State Security against any civic manifestation by Cubans.
Double standards and state propaganda
The comment from Tablada fits within the old strategy of Castroist propaganda: to use social conflicts in the United States to create a false moral equivalence between an imperfect democracy, where citizens can protest without being imprisoned, and a totalitarian dictatorship where merely calling for a peaceful march is enough to end up in prison.
While in the U.S. millions of people march against their own president without fear of reprisal, in Cuba a simple critical post on Facebook can lead to years in prison under charges of "contempt" or "enemy propaganda." The difference could not be more striking, even though Tablada de la Torre insists on blurring it with the rhetoric from Ñico López's manual.
The contrast is even more grotesque when considering that Cuba ranks 173rd out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, while the United States stands at 42nd. On the island, all media outlets are state-owned, internet access is monitored, and independent journalists face harassment, defamation, or are forced into exile.
Tablada de la Torre's claims also contrast with Cuba's position in major international indices on human rights and civil liberties.
According to the report Freedom in the World 2025 by Freedom House, the island is classified as a "not free" country, with a score of only 10 out of 100, which includes 1 point out of 40 for political rights and 9 out of 60 for civil liberties.
In its World Report 2025, Human Rights Watch describes Cuba as a state that upholds a widespread repressive system, characterized by arbitrary detentions, torture, censorship, persecution of journalists and activists, and a lack of judicial independence.
The U.S. State Department itself described the situation as "critically restrictive," noting "forced disappearances, harassment, and the banning of independent unions." In summary, the reality in Cuba ranks at the bottom of all human rights indices in the hemisphere.
Diplomacy as an Echo of Repression
In recent years, Tablada has been at the center of several controversies. She has defended the imprisonment of journalists, blamed Washington for the migration crisis, and even applauded on national television the intervention of an "expert" who claimed that “there is more freedom of expression in Cuba than in the United States.”
The U.S. State Department has openly referred to her as a “”, a description that aligns with her role as a disciplined spokesperson for Castroism in front of the international community.
His recent comment on the protests in the United States is not surprising: it is part of a discursive pattern that aims to downplay internal repression, criticize Washington, and reinforce the narrative of revolutionary victimhood.
But the irony of his message only underscores what he tries to conceal: in Cuba, people are not only dissatisfied with their government, but they cannot express it without paying a terrible price.
Because if there is one thing that sets American protesters apart from Cubans, it is that in one country they protest with megaphones, and in the other with fear.
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