The State Department published a damning report documenting the Cuban communist regime’s nefarious activities in America. Among the revelations: Cuba has been training over 10,000 American left-wing activists and funding dissent in this country. They have the ability to organize disruptive demonstrations at most military bases and immigration facilities at a day’s notice.
The timing is eerie. Just this Tuesday, yet another anti-ICE terror attack occurred in Manhattan when a former US army soldier set gasoline on fire in front of the agency’s New York field office. This pyromaniac isn’t officially linked to Cuba, but his violent left-wing attack is precisely the type of thing Cuba is incubating in America.
For decades, trips to Cuba have served as a rite of passage for some of America’s most committed activists. Extremists drawn to revolutionary movements and radical causes visit the country to learn from the regime. Early on, the Venceremos Brigade brought American students to the country to tap into its political groups. Some of its first visitors then used what they learned to lead the Weather Underground.
These and similar trips continue today and connect participants with more militant forms of activism.
The “Brigadista” Calla Walsh served as co-chair of the National Network on Cuba before she became a mouthpiece for the Iranian regime. She declared “Death to America” in Tehran last year.
Former Venceremos brigadier Karen Bass managed to get elected as mayor of the America’s second largest city. She has advanced causes favorable to the Cuban regime such as calling to lift sanctions on the communist regime. When the Cuban tyrant Fidel Castro died, she mourned him as “Comandante en Jefe” — commander in chief.
The list goes on: Isra Hirsi, daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), made a trip to Havana in March. She thanked the People’s Forum for organizing the trip, despite concerns that the organization may be a Chinese Communist Party propaganda arm. People’s Forum denies any wrongdoing.
Some Cuban operatives aren’t as overtly revolutionary and work through more conventional political and professional channels, including nonprofit institutions and political organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America.
Since 2019, the DSA has expanded its activism related to Cuba. The party has intensified this engagement during the second Trump administration.
The DSA sent 40 rank-and-file and governing members to Havana. They met with communist officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Cossío Domínguez. The DSA also participated in the trip that sent Hirsi and far-left streamer Hasan Piker — who recently called Mao Zedong “one of the great leaders of this world” — to Cuba.
Fortunately, the Trump administration has accelerated its efforts against the communist-influence network in America. A federal court is investigating far-left China-based billionaire Neville Roy Singham, a chief financier of the nonprofit network supporting communist activities.
Besides the People’s Forum, Singham is a major contributor to Code Pink. His wife, Jodie Evans, is the co-founder. Its leadership includes some of the country’s most prominent pro-Cuba activists, including Medea Benjamin, Claudia De la Cruz and Vivien Lesnik Weisman. A grand jury is reportedly investigating whether Singham’s activities may have violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act. (Singham has not been charged with wrongdoing, and he has denied acting on behalf of the Chinese government.)
The Justice Department is also seeking the extradition of another far-left financier, James “Fergie” Chambers, who is living in Spain. (He has denied any wrongdoing.)
But much more remains to dismantle these operations and militant networks. A good place to start: The House Foreign Affairs Committee can subpoena every person and organization identified in the State Department’s Cuba report. Their testimony would surely begin to expose these nefarious actors ahead of potential court proceedings. And it would show the American people the extent of Cuba’s influence.
The Trump administration should also probe the nonprofit status of 501(c)3 groups such as the People’s Forum, Code Pink, the ANSWER Coalition and even the DSA’s own nonprofit arms such as the DSA Fund.
The DOJ and Treasury Department should enforce existing sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela and other far-left regimes to the greatest degree, punishing those who violate them by taking payment from those regimes or working for them.
Finally, to expose the influence of foreign tyrants, Congress should pass legislation to force every nonprofit group to disclose any large donation by a foreign national or from foreign-source funds.
It’s easy for DSA members and fellow travelers to funnel money to anti-American causes. It’s easy for Mayor Mamdani to remain silent when the DSA supports the Cuban regime. It’s easy for Rep. Omar to blame America for Cuba’s socialist collapse. It’s easy for Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) to lie and praise Cuba’s broken health system after meeting with the nation’s dictator. But it’s not easy to be a Cuban suffering from blackouts, lack of water and food shortages caused by socialism.
Earlier this week, Cuban tyrant Miguel Díaz-Canel said that “a new and more dangerous version of McCarthysm is back in the United States.” Make no mistake, if the US government does not act, a wave of far-left terrorism will follow. We must not hold back our efforts to protect America’s freedom and way of life from communism and socialism. Anti-communism is indeed back, and Cuba is next.
Daniel Di Martino (@DanielDiMartino) is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) is an investigative analyst at City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute.
