A quick read of the Cuban president's interview with NBC News

Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, gave a historic interview to NBC News' Meet the Press show. This occurs at a moment of maximum tension between Cuba and the United States, that is, at one of those peaks that history brings. Although in truth, the Cuban issue seems to have calmed down a bit as a natural consequence of the debacle that the Trump administration has suffered in Iran. The arrogance of the MAGA White House is sinking in the Strait of Hormuz, and it truly seems they have quite a bit of damage control to do in the immediate future, so Cuba, which seemed exposed to some outcome in the short term, now appears to be very much a second-tier issue.

The Cuban leader took the opportunity to speak directly to the U.S. audience to present and argue the official narrative that places the main responsibility for the increasingly harsh crisis on a comprehensive OFAC-run sanctions regime—as long-lasting as the Cuban Revolution itself. In this regard, he clarified to Kristen Welker that the discussion is not just about what has happened from January—when Trump declared a de facto oil blockade against Cuba—to the present, but rather about a very particular escalation within the conflict that originated in the first Trump administration.

Without a doubt, this is an objective and serious argument that many simply do not even want to recognize as such. Whether one gives it more or less importance, whether one understands it as more or less relevant to explaining the problem than the Cuban leadership's own missteps and gross errors, is a legitimate discussion, but always starting from the undeniable existence of that factor. In the interview, Díaz-Canel defended that the nation's sovereignty is not and will not be on a negotiating table with Washington—as is appropriate, issues that are subject to very rational and fair criticisms such as the existence or not of political prisoners and our democratic development are not the concern of the United States—, and stated that he is ready to give his life if ultimately Trump decides to attack militarily.

Díaz-Canel's main shortcoming was his reluctance to accept that, also without a doubt, the Cuban government has a critical responsibility for the state of affairs. The need for reforms and drastic changes in this very hostile context, in which no actor is doing things as Cuba does or is willing to support its socialist experiment anymore, is increasingly urgent, and yet what prevails is a very irresponsible pause on the part of the authorities. I would say that not a day can go by without some high-impact measure, some change, being adopted. In this case, the president's response to the question of why the country is not moving toward a political-economic system like the one operating in the cases of China and Vietnam was not convincing, almost entirely subject to the dispute with the United States and even to our insular condition.

Welker's final question—whether he is willing to resign to "save" Cuba—made him extremely uncomfortable, and at first, he took it out on the American journalist. I didn´t see that right, by the way. But that the question is "in the air" does not make it less scandalous, because it arises from an artificially created dilemma—against the law, based on force and abuse—which Welker inevitably ends up validating. I have shared below the full interview for you to watch and assess at your own discretion.

Source for the image in the cover.