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Statement by CODEPINK’s Medea Benjamin Regarding an Alleged Government Investigation Into March Cuba Trip

Contrary to rumors, I have not received any subpoena from the U.S. government. Perhaps one is on the way. But let me be clear: we did nothing wrong during our March 2026 trip to Cuba. On the contrary, we acted as moral U.S. citizens trying to bring some relief to a population being deliberately starved by the cruel policies of our own government.

We traveled to Cuba under the U.S. government-authorized category of providing humanitarian aid to the Cuban people. We brought desperately needed medicines and medical supplies at a time when Cuba is suffering catastrophic shortages caused by the crippling U.S. blockade. We stayed in hotels explicitly permitted under U.S. regulations: Spanish-owned hotels approved for U.S. travelers.

It is outrageous that the U.S. government would target people for bringing humanitarian aid to suffering Cuban children. But even more disturbing is the cruel and deeply immoral policy the United States continues to impose on Cuba — a policy designed to strangle the island economically, deprive people of food, fuel, medicine, and basic necessities, and make daily life unbearable.

This policy has contributed to catastrophic shortages of medicine and electricity, massive blackouts, transportation collapse, and a public health crisis that has hurt the most vulnerable, especially children and the elderly. It is a policy that is, literally, killing babies, as we have seen in the recent tragic doubling of the infant mortality rate. This is why we focused our donations on medical supplies for pediatric hospitals.

In addition to the immense human suffering these U.S. policies are causing, we are now hearing reckless threats about an invasion of Cuba — a path that would bring chaos, violence, and a massive migration crisis.

Year after year, the global community overwhelmingly condemns the U.S. blockade at the United Nations. The United States should lift the blockade, normalize relations with Cuba, and allow the future of Cuba to be determined by the Cuban people themselves — not by ambitious U.S. politicians or a small group of hardline Cuban-American extremists in Miami.

President Trump already has his hands full trying to disentangle himself from the disastrous U.S. war with Iran. He should not start another one in Cuba. The American people are tired of endless wars, interventions, sanctions, and suffering imposed in our name.