The Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal demanded this Sunday that Washington engage in "real negotiations" with Havana and advocated for "deep diplomacy" as a way to promote change in Cuba,
In an interview granted to the newspaper El País, which reignites the debate on U.S. foreign policy towards the island, Jayapal, representative from the state of Washington and one of the most influential voices of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, acknowledged that Cuba is going through a "humanitarian crisis" and vividly described what she witnessed during her visit in April.
"Medicines, essential goods, and food are lacking. The streets were almost empty. And this was right after a Russian tanker docked with a full load of fuel. We weren't even in the worst phase, which is now," he specified.
The congresswoman visited Cuba in April along with Congressman Jonathan Jackson, in the first documented visit of U.S. lawmakers to the island in 2026, where she met with Miguel Díaz-Canel, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, and members of the Cuban Parliament.
"The U.S. government has mishandled the crisis since the beginning of the embargo. We should have implemented deep diplomacy for Cuba to connect with the rest of the world and for changes to occur naturally," the lawmaker stated.
Despite that diagnosis, the congresswoman placed the blame on the U.S. embargo and not on the dictatorship that has ruled the island for more than six decades.
"It has not worked and will not work to impose collective punishment on the Cuban people to force a change," he stated, adding that the "real negotiations" he calls for have not taken place "since the Obama Administration," noting that Biden "also failed to take advantage of that momentum."
The legislator also indicated that during her visit she met with the families of political prisoners and with "dissidents who had openly expressed opposition to the Government," although those mentions took a back seat to her criticism of the embargo.
April's trip earned her harsh criticism from Republican congressmen and sectors of the Cuban exile community, who accused her of "whitewashing" the regime. After returning, Jayapal attempted, unsuccessfully, to arrange the shipment of oil to Cuba through third countries, including contacts with the Mexican ambassador.
The White House spokesperson, Olivia Wales, responded this Sunday to the congresswoman's remarks with a direct message: the Democrats would seek to "aid a failed communist regime."
The words of Jayapal contrast with the stance of the Trump administration, which maintains maximum pressure on Havana. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated on Friday to Axios that Washington's goal is to ensure that the Cuban regime has no "way out": "Whenever they create a new mechanism to try to escape the noose, we simply tighten it."
In that same context, as revealed by The New York Times, the CIA created a special group for Cuba with the aim of creating rifts within the regime's leadership, while the Trump administration seeks to identify a "pragmatic" Cuban official who could take over the government in Havana.
Rubio was emphatic about the direction Washington is pursuing: "My level of confidence is that when this Administration ends, at the very least, Cuba will be on an irreversible path toward a different future."
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