Rubio report on Cuban "subversion" names Zohran Mamdani, Hasan Piker, Ben
Cohen + orgs like DSA and Amazon Labor Union͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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After "Political Terrorism" Event, U.S. Names 43 Americans + Groups
Rubio report on Cuban "subversion" names Zohran Mamdani, Hasan Piker, Ben Cohen
+ orgs like DSA and Amazon Labor Union
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| Ken Klippenstein |
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| Jul 20 |
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Marco Rubio leads “The Resurgence of Political Terrorism” summit last weekA
new State Department report on Cuba’s “campaign of subversion against the
United States” is a virtual government blacklist against left-wing Americans
and groups. Linked to last week’s Rubio-led summit on “political terrorism,”
the report is unusually candid about the government’s targets.
“Many of the most significant upheavals in recent American political history —
from the George Floyd riots to the rise of Antifa to the explosion of
pro-terrorist activism on American college campuses — can be linked, in some
way, shape, or form, to Cuban influence,” the report says.
As for who these supposed American agents of Cuba are, the report is remarkably
explicit. It names people like Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream fame),
Mayors Zohran Mamdani and Karen Bass, media figures like Amy Goodman and Hasan
Piker, and organizations like the Democratic Socialists of America and the
Amazon Labor Union.
The implication is clear: Secretary of State Marco Rubio thinks there should be
a modern-day blacklist of the political left in America. In fact, the report
explicitly mentions the “blacklists, McCarthy-era investigations and
prosecutions” of the 1950s and their effectiveness at dismembering the
Communist Party USA.
The 100-page report, titled “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” was
released this morning.
| | Cuba Report44.6MB ∙ PDF file |
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| Download |
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An entire section of the report — numbering over three pages long — is
dedicated to the Democratic Socialists of America.
“The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) serves as a particularly potent
illustration of the ideological victory of Cuba’s effort to position itself as
the spiritual capital of Third Worldist Radicalism,” the report says. “This
represents a significant advance for the Cuban influence operation: Havana no
longer needs to rely solely on intelligence penetration or asset cultivation to
exert influence over the United States.”
Though the report concedes that “DSA was not shaped by the direct and tangible
influence of the Cuban government” and that it has “organic ideological
commitments,” it insists that “None of that is to say that the group has no
ties to the Cuban regime and its influence network.”
Instead, the report points to the group’s delegations to Cuba as evidence of
Cuban influence.
“For more than six decades, the Cuban regime has been the leading sponsor of
radical leftism and Third Worldism in the United States,” Secretary of State
Marco Rubio said in a post on X/Twitter linking to the report.
Whatever you think of DSA, it is hardly fringe. It claims as members prominent
politicians like New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and has helped to nominate
dozens of politicians like him to office in recent years. Senator Bernie
Sanders identifies as a Democratic Socialist — having himself popularized the
term — as do Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, who are card
carrying members (as well as Mamdani).
The Cuba report follows last week’s Rubio-led international summit on
“political terrorism.” That summit, as I reported, introduced the new term
“Far-Left Terrorism” (abbreviated “FLT”), a term it never really defined.
A White House press release summarizing the event said that “far-left extremism
will be treated with the same seriousness and ferocity the world has long
reserved for jihadist terrorism.”
Speaking at the summit, Rubio vowed that further new terrorist designations for
left-wing groups would be coming “soon.”
Jeremy Lewin, the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Assistance, linked last
week’s political terrorism summit to today’s Cuba report, saying on X: “For
seven decades, the Cuban regime has been behind both the ideological
underpinnings of third worldism and subversive organizing structures of the new
radical left political terrorists that @SecRubio called out with clarity last
week.”
But virtually all the summit could do to substantiate the supposed scourge of
political terrorism was to focus on groups that are almost comically dated —
like the 70’s era Symbionese Liberation Army or the Weather Underground. The
summit was vague about what are the equivalent groups today.
Today’s Cuba report, however, “names names,” in an obvious attempt to
stigmatize American citizens who are very much politically active today.
In some cases these are even sitting politicians, from congresswoman Maxine
Waters to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
I read the 100-page report and counted references to at least 43 contemporary
American groups and individuals, which the report identifies as follows:
Adely, Suzanne: The president of the National Lawyers Guild who participated in
the Nuestra América Convoy and who, the report notes, praised Venezuela’s 2024
elections.
-
Amazon Labor Union: A labor union founded by Christian Smalls that participated
in the 2026 Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba.
-
Antifa: A decentralized group of self-described “Anti-fascist” political
activists
-
Assata’s Daughters: A Chicago-based Black Lives Matter abolitionist offshoot
that trains young activists in the radical spirit of Assata Shakur.
-
Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees (AIPAC): A
California-based umbrella nonprofit that funds left-wing media and delegations
to Cuba and Venezuela.
-
Bass, Karen: The current Mayor of Los Angeles and former Congresswoman who was
a Venceremos Brigade organizer in the 1970s.
-
Benjamin, Medea (Susan Benjamin): A co-founder of Code Pink and Global Exchange
who previously lived in Cuba and frequently organizes solidarity efforts for
the regime.
-
Black Alliance for Peace: An activist group that maps U.S. military bases and
police training facilities as targets for radical agitation.
-
Black Lives Matter (BLM) (including Global Network Foundation, Grassroots, and
at School): A sprawling racial justice network whose leaders and offshoots
express solidarity with the Cuban regime and radical figures like Assata Shakur.
-
Boudin, Chesa: The former District Attorney of San Francisco and son of Weather
Underground member Kathy Boudin.
-
changingFrequencies: A Black Queer Feminist-led abolitionist project aiming to
disrupt waht it calls the “Medical Industrial Complex”.
-
Claudia Jones School: A Washington, D.C.-based organizing collective that
conducts popular education and pro-Cuba lobbying.
-
Code Pink: Women for Peace: A left-wing protest group that describes itself as
anti-war and organizes solidarity delegations to Cuba.
-
Cohen, Ben: The co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s who attended the wedding of Neville
Roy Singham and Jodie Evans.
-
de la Cruz, Claudia: The co-founder of the People’s Forum, IFCO executive
director, and 2024 presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and
Liberation.
-
De Los Santos, Manolo: The co-founder and head of the People’s Forum who the
report says maintains deep relationships with Cuban regime elites.
-
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA): A major socialist political
organization that formally advocates for the Cuban regime and organizes
official delegations to the island.
-
Ensler, Eve (V): A prominent playwright who attended the wedding of Neville Roy
Singham and Jodie Evans.
-
Equality for Flatbush: A Brooklyn-based Black Lives Matter abolitionist group
fighting gentrification, police, and ICE.
-
Evans, Jodie: The co-founder of Code Pink who married billionaire Neville Roy
Singham and heavily praises anti-American foreign states.
-
Floyd, George: A man whose 2020 death sparked nationwide uprisings that were
celebrated and supported by the Cuban regime.
-
Garza, Alicia: The co-founder of Black Lives Matter who credited Assata Shakur
as a key influence in her organizing work.
-
Goodman, Amy: The host of Democracy Now! who the report notes attended the
wedding of leftist billionaire Neville Roy Singham and Jodie Evans.
-
Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees: An activist group led by Black women that
organizes to defend Black migrants and stop deportations.
-
Hirsi, Isra: A campus activist and daughter of Ilhan Omar who was suspended
from Barnard College for organizing anti-Israel encampments before traveling to
Cuba.
-
IFCO / Pastors for Peace: An ecumenical foundation that organizes aid caravans
to leftist regimes and serves as a fiscal sponsor for numerous radical U.S.
groups.
-
Larudee, Paul: A U.S. citizen based in San Francisco who serves as the North
American coordinator for the pro-Iranian “Resistance Axis” coalition Al-Tajammu.
-
Mamdani, Zohran: Mayor of New York
-
National Lawyers Guild (NLG): An association of radical lawyers that provides
legal defense and “legal observers” for various left-wing groups
-
National Network on Cuba (NNOC): A coalition of over 60 American groups
dedicated to lobbying for the Cuban regime and coordinating nationwide direct
actions.
-
Omar, Ilhan: A Democratic Congresswoman and mother of campus activist Isra
Hirsi.
-
Party for Socialism and Liberation: A leftist political party that fielded a
2024 presidential candidate and conducts protests.
-
People’s Forum, The: An activist hub for anti-ICE and pro-Cuban agitation.
-
Piker, Hasan: A streamer and left-wing political commentator who, the report
notes, traveled to Cuba to film a documentary and participated in the Nuestra
América Convoy.
-
Pressley, Ayanna: A Democratic Congresswoman who, the report notes, publicly
praised convicted murderer Assata Shakur upon her death.
-
Singham, Neville Roy: A Shanghai-based American technology magnate who funds a
massive global network of far-left activist groups.
-
Smalls, Christian: The founder of the Amazon Labor Union who participated in
the 2026 Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba.
-
Thousand Currents: A progressive nonprofit that served as the fiscal sponsor
for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.
-
Villaraigosa, Antonio: A former Mayor of Los Angeles and Speaker of the
California Assembly who was a Venceremos Brigade alumnus.
-
Viva Palestina US: The American branch of an international network that, the
report notes, previously provided convoys and funds to Hamas.
-
Waters, Maxine: A Democratic Congresswoman who, the report notes, once wrote a
letter urging Fidel Castro not to extradite fugitive Assata Shakur.
-
Wilson, Diane: A co-founder of the anti-war protest group Code Pink.
-
Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective: An organization that runs recurring
U.S. solidarity delegations to Cuba.
Guilt by association at its finest. But what exactly are they guilty of?
What the report shows isn’t that any of these people are knowingly taking
directions from a foreign power — only that they disagree with the U.S.
government on Cuba policy (or at most, agree with Cuba).
Their views can be wrong — aggressively, offensively wrong even — but it’s
their goddamn right as Americans to hold them.
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— Edited by William M. Arkin
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