If you asked AI to write 100 pages of Cold War propaganda and make organizations like CODEPINK sound like terrorists for delivering humanitarian aid to Cuba, you’d get something a lot like the State Department’s new Cuba report.
The difference is that taxpayers paid for this one.
The State Department recently released a report titled Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism where it accuses peace organizations, labor unions, faith groups, academics, journalists, and solidarity activists of participating in a vast Cuban influence operation simply because they oppose the U.S. blockade and believe Cubans deserve to live without economic warfare.
Personal Note from Medea
The first time I went to Cuba was more than fifty years ago. I was a young woman looking for a society where children didn’t go hungry. I found that in Cuba, and I also found lifelong friendships and a deep admiration for the Cuban people.
Over the years, Cuba has become like a second home to me. I’ve spent months living there, learning from Cuban families, farmers, artists, teachers, and doctors. I’ve seen what a society can accomplish when healthcare and education are treated as human rights, even under the crushing weight of a U.S. blockade.
One of those doctors even saved my life when I was working in a small village in Africa.
That’s why this new State Department report is so offensive. But no report can erase what I, and millions of people around the world, have experienced firsthand: the generosity, compassion, and solidarity of the Cuban people, especially when others are in need around the world, suffering from natural disasters or public health crises.
I’ve seen Cuban doctors save lives. I’ve seen neighbors share food during difficult times. I’ve seen communities determined to build a better future despite decades of collective punishment. The answer to the challenges facing Cuba is not more sanctions, more propaganda, or more hostility. It’s cooperation, respect, and an end to the blockade.
I hope you’ll join us in telling Secretary Rubio exactly that.
In radical solidarity,
About the Report
HAVANA, CUBA — March 9, 2026, Photo Credit: Thomas E. Franklin
- It revives McCarthyism. It casts Americans who oppose the blockade are portrayed, not as citizens exercising their rights, but as agents of foreign influence.
- It contains factual errors. The State Department’s Cuba report is riddled with misleading and false claims. One example is that it claims that the “Singham network” funded around 100 CODEPINK trips, including dozens to countries it labels “hostile.” This is simply false. The so-called “Singham network” has never funded CODEPINK’s educational delegations. Participants pay their own expenses to travel with us, and nowhere near the number of trips claimed in the report have ever existed.
- It treats public advocacy as evidence of conspiracy. The report lists educational travel, conferences, published articles, humanitarian aid and cultural exchanges and presents these lawful activities as evidence of coordinated foreign influence without demonstrating that organizations take direction from the Cuban government.
- It suggests that Americans who oppose the blockade are acting under Cuban influence rather than out of their own convictions, while ignoring the well-documented influence of the Florida Cuban American lobby and other powerful lobbying groups, such as AIPAC, on U.S. foreign policy.
- It ignores the real humanitarian crisis. While devoting 100 pages to attacking peace activists and solidarity organizations, the report says nothing about the devastating impact of more than six decades of U.S. sanctions, including shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and other essential goods that affect millions of Cubans every day.
👉🏼 Read and share CODEPINK Statement on the State Department's Recent Cuba Report
More Ways to Support Cuba
The State Department can spend taxpayer dollars writing reports filled with Cold War fearmongering. We’ll keep building friendships, and standing with the Cuban people. No amount of propaganda can erase the truth or stop the growing movement to end the blockade. Take action with us for Cuba now!
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