Pro-Cuba activist groups face DOJ foreign influence investigation

This article is part I of a Fox News Digital investigative series examining allegations that the communist government of Cuba has built a network of influence inside the United States that federal authorities are now investigating. Part I focuses on the network’s immediate response following the impeachment of Cuban leader Raúl Castro.

Just nine minutes after US Attorney General Todd Blanche announced murder charges against Cuban leader Raúl Castro in the 1996 shooting down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes, a coordinated rapid response network was already mobilizing across the US to protect Castro and the Cuban Communist Party.

At 1:54 p.m. Wednesday, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist political organization involved in the “Hands Off Cuba” campaign, published six previously produced images denouncing the indictment as “BASELESS INDICTMENT OF RAUL CASTRO” and “SCALES OF ANOTHER WAR.”

Hours later, at 3:18 a.m. Thursday morning, Vijay Prashad, executive director at Tricontinental, a Marxist think tank, wrote on X, “Cuba is not a threat to the world. The United States is a threat to the world. The world stands with Raúl Castro, the hero of the Cuban Revolution. The world is turning its back on the destruction of Donald Trump, the clown of Donald Trump.” Manolo De Los Santos, executive director of the People’s Forum, a non-profit organization based in New York, shared the message without voice, as did the leaders of CodePink, another leftist organization.

Then 24 hours after Blanche’s announcement, at 1:46 p.m. Thursday, BreakThrough News, a news platform associated with the same ecosystem activist, published a video showing disrespectful Cubans, one man said, “We will not give Raúl.”

Fox News Digital has learned that Justice and Treasury Department officials are investigating American nonprofits and activist groups for allegedly coordinating lobbying, messaging, fundraising, delegations and political organizing efforts with Cuban government officials as part of a foreign influence campaign operating inside the United States.

A Fox News Digital investigation identified 145 nonprofits, labor organizations, advocacy groups and activist groups across the US that have combined to support the Cuban government and the Cuban Communist Party. Together, the organizations report nearly $1 billion in combined annual revenue.

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For US national security officials assessing the influence of foreign governments in the US, the rapid response messaging campaign provides a striking example of how Cuba’s national “solidarity” infrastructure is coordinating political messages across non-profit organizations, media platforms, labor organizations and activist coalitions following major national developments involving the Cuban regime.

Complicating the alleged influence campaign, the ANSWER Coalition, Party for Socialism and Liberation, BreakThrough News, CodePink, People’s Forum and Tricontinental are all part of a network sponsored by Shanghai-based American technologist Neville Roy Singham, who supports the Chinese Communist Party and its global protection program Cuba.com.

In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, the spokesperson of the Cuban Embassy in Washington dismissed any improper activity and said that the country’s diplomats are working within the limits of the Vienna Convention, where Article 41 states that diplomats “have the duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of the state.

“Cuban diplomats strictly adhere to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” said the embassy spokesperson, noting that “part of the diplomatic mission” is to “promote friendly relations” and “to communicate with organizations and public institutions in the Government where the person is accredited.”

The ambassador added that “it is not unusual, and it is not a violation of any international or US law, for Cuban politicians to engage with civil society,” and said that it does not encourage Americans to “overthrow or act against the constitution of the United States.”

Sources familiar with the investigation said investigators are also looking into the activities of several activists and organizers connected to the Cuban solidarity movement, including Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, CodePink founder Medea Benjamin and CodePink DC coordinator Olivia DiNucci.

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Hasan Piker, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and CodePink founder Jodie Evans met in Havana, Cuba, as part of the “United Front” supporting the communist regime. (NO ACCESS/NNS/FNS/OUTKICK/CodePink)

Federal investigators are also investigating about 40 Americans who allegedly worked with Cuban government officials to bring goods and supplies to Cuba in “convoys” and “flotillas” earlier this year, sources told Fox News Digital.

Organizations considered by trade unions, non-profit activist organizations, solidarity campaigns, travel networks, socio-political groups and media activities.

Cuba’s pro-Communist ecosystem includes seven distinct communities:

• Sinham Network: ANSWER Alliance; Conflict stories; CodePink; International People’s Assembly and affiliated organizations; Issues of Freedom and the Social and Freedom Movement; The People’s Forum and its funded projects, the Venceremos Brigade and the Hatuey Project; Tricontinental Institute; IFCO and its Peace Teachers project,
• Trade unions and labor activists: Organizers affiliated with AFL-CIO, International Association of Machinists Local 1484, Labor/Community Strategy Center, Service Employees International Union, Teamsters tied to Amazon labor campaigns, United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 36
• Cuba travel groups, convoys and couriers: A flotilla of activists and humanitarian caravan organizers; Global Exchange; Hand in Cuban Committees; National Network in Cuba; Organizers of the Nuestra América Convoy
• Socialist, Marxist, Communist organizations: African People’s Socialist Party, Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America, Peace and Freedom Party, Socialist Unity Party, Socialist Workers Party
• The media and propaganda ecosystem: activist campaigns to increase social media, anti-imperialist podcasts and live broadcast networks, BreakThrough News, BT News, Liberation News, Tricontinental
• Legal, academic and institutional networks: National Bar Association; church and religious solidarity organizations, educational activists working in schools and campuses, , professors tied to Cuban delegations and anti-sanctions campaigns, university-based Cuban solidarity groups.
• Humanitarian infrastructure and aid: agricultural solidarity campaigns, Global Health Partners, medical supply campaigns, “people-to-people” exchange organizers, solar panel fundraising campaigns

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Investigators are also scrutinizing the tourism infrastructure and courier network, including organizations that coordinate labor travel, educational exchanges, people-to-people tours, activist organizations and aid ships to Cuba.

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Americans who engage in political activities in the United States at the behest or control of a foreign government may be required to register with the Department of Justice. Representation itself is protected under the First Amendment, and registration under FARA does not prohibit political activities. Investigators are examining whether there are organizations that cross the line from independent activism to coordinated activity directed by Cuban government officials.

Investigators are examining whether other organizations and activists coordinate lobbying, messaging, delegations, fundraising and political organizing efforts with Cuban government officials without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, enforces a long-standing US sanctions regime against Cuba, including restrictions on financing, material support, shipping and the transfer of goods and services to the island.

While there are humanitarian exemptions and licensed tour categories, investigators are examining whether some activists and non-profit groups have coordinated shipments, fundraising, “convoys,” flotillas and aid campaigns in ways that may have violated sanctions laws or avoided reporting requirements.

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Investigators are also looking into whether the organizations used centralized nonprofits, funded projects or general donation language in ways that disguised Cuba-related transactions that could have resulted in additional compliance scrutiny under OFAC rules.

One fundraising page asking for Cuban solar panel donations instructed donors: “Please do not write ‘Cuba’ in the donation comments or on the check line. Just write ‘Emergency.’

Sources familiar with the investigation said investigators are also examining the activities of several activists and organizers connected to the Cuban solidarity movement, including Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, CodePink founder Medea Benjamin and CodePink DC coordinator Olivia DiNucci.

“Cuba is 100% using foreign influence in the US,” said Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez, a Cuban-born author who has written extensively about the workings of communist influence in Latin America.

He described Cuba as “the base for organizing anti-American revolutions in the Western Hemisphere.”

Gonzalez told Fox News Digital, “Cuba is a pre-revolutionary school.”

“The Cuban government has spent decades creating networks of universities, labor groups, non-profit activists, churches and solidarity organizations in the US,” Gonzalez said. “A key question for investigators is whether these organizations went beyond a protected operation to coordinated political operations directed by a foreign government.”

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