Wednesday, November 18, 2026 from 12:00 noon – 2 pm
Vicki Huddleston
Ambassador Vicki J. Huddleston (ret.) has served as the principal American diplomat in Ethiopia, Mali, Cuba, and Madagascar. She is the author of Our Woman in Havana: A Diplomat’s Chronicle of America’s Long Struggle with Castro’s Cuba, which is based on her three years in Havana as the head of the American diplomatic mission.
Ambassador Huddleston served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as well as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa. She was the American ambassador to Madagascar and to the Republic of Mali; and head of the American diplomatic mission to Cuba — the United States Interests Section — before it was up-graded to an embassy. She was acting ambassador in Ethiopia, Deputy Chief of Mission in Haiti, and Director and Deputy Director of Cuban Affairs at the Department of State. She was awarded the Department of State’s Distinguished Honor Award, the Secretary’s Career Achievement Award, and two Presidential Meritorious Service Award.
Vicki was chief of party in Haiti for Research Triangle International, a member of the Obama-Biden transition team and a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow on the staff of former Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). She was visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution, where she managed a project on United States policy toward Cuba. Prior to joining the State Department, she worked for the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) in Peru and Brazil. She began her overseas career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru.
Huddleston earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School Advanced International Studies and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.
Vicki is the co-author of Learning to Salsa: New Steps in U.S.-Cuba Relations and opinion pieces on Cuba, Mali, and Ethiopia published in The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, and The Washington Post, and a popular speaker.
The U.S – Spanish American War gave the victorious Americans extensive political, economic and social leverage over the island. Castro’s 1959 victory replaced the U.S. with the Soviet Union and then to a lesser extent Venezuela. The U.S. embargo imposed in 1960 and strengthened over time has impoverished the Cuban people but Cuba’s Communist government still governs. If the past 128 years are any indication, the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign will fail, even if it achieves regime change.
Registration: This SFWAF lunch is $26 for members and $36 for nonmembers. You may pay by check made out to SFWAF and mailed to The Santa Fe World Affairs Forum, Santa Fe, PO Box 31965, NM 87594 or with a credit card using our Paypal account. Please indicate on your check or if using Paypal please note in “add special instructions to the seller” that your payment is for the Wednesday, November 18, 2026 program.
Members: if you have not yet paid your 2026-27 membership dues, you may include the $60 per person annual dues in your payment for this program, but please also note in special instructions that dues are included. Because we are a 501(c)(3) organization, dues and contributions are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.
If you are not a member or plan to bring a guest who is not a member, please include your best contact information and your guest’s name. We use nametags. If you are interested in membership, please email us: sfwaforum@outlook.com.
Payment for this program is non-refundable after Wednesday November 11, 2026. We strongly prefer that payment be made by Paypal or check postmarked by November 11, 2026 at the latest to facilitate check in. It is also very helpful if you are sending a check to email us at sfwaforum@outlook.com to let us know you plan to attend.
If you are not a member but interested in membership, please see our membership page and email sfwaforum@outlook.com for additional information.
Because we are a 501(c)(3) organization, dues and contributions are tax deductible.
For pricing and reservations, click here: https://sfwaf.org/payment/
Location: SFCC Board Room (#223) is in the West Wing (Administration building). The college is located at 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87508. Enter through the building’s main entrance (on the left side of the building behind the flag poles). The Board Room is on the corridor to the left of the Campus Center.
Directions: From Rodeo Road turn south onto Richards Avenue. Turn into the campus main drive. Parking lots are in front of the building. From I-25 take the Cerrillos Road exit, turn east onto Governor Miles Road and then right onto Richards Avenue. Then follow directions above.
The Speaker
Ambassador Huddleston served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as well as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa. She was the American ambassador to Madagascar and to the Republic of Mali; and head of the American diplomatic mission to Cuba — the United States Interests Section — before it was up-graded to an embassy. She was acting ambassador in Ethiopia, Deputy Chief of Mission in Haiti, and Director and Deputy Director of Cuban Affairs at the Department of State. She was awarded the Department of State’s Distinguished Honor Award, the Secretary’s Career Achievement Award, and two Presidential Meritorious Service Award.
Vicki was chief of party in Haiti for Research Triangle International, a member of the Obama-Biden transition team and a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow on the staff of former Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). She was visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution, where she managed a project on United States policy toward Cuba. Prior to joining the State Department, she worked for the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) in Peru and Brazil. She began her overseas career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru.
Huddleston earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School Advanced International Studies and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.
Vicki is the co-author of Learning to Salsa: New Steps in U.S.-Cuba Relations and opinion pieces on Cuba, Mali, and Ethiopia published in The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, and The Washington Post, and a popular speaker.
