Gustavo Petro's Account of Maduro's Capture Leaves Cuban Officials Uncomfortable

Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro placed Johana Tablada de la Torre, the deputy head of mission at the Cuban Embassy in Mexico, in an awkward position as he recounted how Cuban military forces allegedly found themselves isolated during the U.S. operation that led to Nicolás Maduro's capture on January 3rd.

In a video of his speech shared on Instagram by Latinos 24, Tablada de la Torre can be seen on stage, displaying clear signs of surprise, denial, and discomfort.

This incident is particularly embarrassing for Tablada, who in 2019 insisted that "there are no Cuban troops in Venezuela" and denied Cuba's involvement in military operations within the country.

The Scene of a Controversial Speech

Petro delivered his remarks at the XXX International Seminar "Parties and a New Society" hosted by the Labor Party in Mexico City from October 8th to 10th. During his speech, he asserted that the Cubans fought "to the last bullet," and a survivor managed to recover the bodies without Venezuelan soldiers' assistance.

"It wasn't the Venezuelan soldiers who retrieved the bodies and saved them from falling into U.S. hands. No, it was a surviving Cuban who took each body and moved them to a warehouse not controlled by the United States, allowing them to be buried by their families," Petro stated.

A Defender of the Official Narrative

Tablada de la Torre holds a significant role in the Cuban representation in Mexico, with ambassadorial rank as head of the Chancellery Office and deputy head of mission, according to the official directory of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Previously, she was the deputy general director for the United States at MINREX, where she became an active public defender of Havana's positions against Washington.

Her diplomatic and communicative activity combines institutional representation with a vigorous political communication effort: interviews, public speeches, and social media messages that blame the embargo for Cuba's crisis and discredit critics of the regime.

Her confrontational profile has persisted in Mexico. In July, she described Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a man "sick with ambition, complexity, and hatred," in another publication aimed at discrediting U.S. accusations against the Cuban regime.

Therefore, Tablada's reaction to Petro carries more weight than mere gestures: a diplomat accustomed to defending the official narrative was listening to a leftist leader describing Cuban military involvement she had publicly denied.

The Deaths and the Chavista Dispute

The death of 32 members of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) during Maduro's capture, acknowledged by Havana, confirmed their presence. The regime declared two days of national mourning, and the bodies were repatriated on January 15th.

Petro's account aligns with testimony from a supposed surviving Cuban officer, shared by influencer and regime advocate Tere Felipe and reported on social media platform X by journalist Maibort Petit.

According to this account, the survivor had to recover the bodies individually due to a lack of Venezuelan support. While the official acknowledgment of Cuban casualties does not confirm every detail of this testimony, it highlights the perceived abandonment.

The speech also sparked a direct confrontation with Chavista representatives. According to El País, during Petro's criticism of Venezuelan oil policy, Congressman Jesús Faría interrupted, accusing him of lying. Later, Congresswoman Tania Díaz labeled him a "Santander" and reproached him for remaining silent despite knowing what was happening.

For Tablada, the event revealed a difficult contradiction to ignore: the military presence she had denied was central to Petro's narrative about the defense and fall of Maduro.