Trump Administration Releases Report Accusing US Left-Wing Groups of Cuba Ties
The Trump administration released a 100-page State Department report accusing left-wing US advocacy groups of ideological ties to Cuba, while separately announcing plans for a 100% tariff on generic drugs from August 2028 and continuing military actions against Iran. [2] [1] [5]
State Department Report Accuses US Left of Cuba Ties
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has released a 100-page report tying left-wing advocacy groups in the US to Cuba, often relying on circumstantial and ideological links rather than direct connections. [2] The document, released by the State Department on Monday, portrays the Caribbean nation as an ideological threat to the US and its interests, frequently using language and concepts harkening back to the Cold War. [2] It argues that Cuba, which is led by a communist government, is trying to subvert the US from within. [2] The report states that while Soviet communism was frequently driven by more practical great-power concerns, its Cuban successor was built around a near-singular obsession with the liberation of the Global South from its Western colonial oppressors. [2] In the minds of the Cubans, there was only one path to this goal: the destruction of the Yankee imperialist regime, according to the document. [2]
DSA, Code Pink and Assata Shakur Cited as Examples
In a section titled Front Groups and Fellow Travellers, the State Department attempts to draw a link between left-wing groups in the US and across the world and Havana. [2] The Democratic Socialists of America, which has helped elect several progressive politicians to Congress, is the most prominent group on the list. [2] The Trump administration admits that the DSA is not a Cuban asset, but it says the group’s rise shows how native and organic ideological commitments of the American far left now mirror the interests of the Cuban government. [2] The report calls the DSA a mass membership organisation operating openly in American electoral politics with a growing bench of elected officials and real influence inside the Democratic Party coalition. [2] The Trump administration also singled out the antiwar group Code Pink, underscoring that one of the group’s donors is a US citizen who lives in China. [2] Code Pink was recently part of a humanitarian delegation to Cuba. [2] The document mentioned New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani by name as it zeroed in on the case of Assata Shakur, a Black liberation activist who was convicted of killing a police officer in 1973 in New Jersey before fleeing to Cuba, where she was given asylum status. [2] The State Department said that Cuba pursued a Shakur strategy to gain a foothold in left-wing circles and African-American advocacy groups, including the Black Lives Matter movement. [2] On the campaign trail in 2025, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to denounce a Democratic Socialists of America tribute to Shakur, the report stated. [2]
Critics Call Report Nonsense and McCarthyism
Left-wing activists have rejected the accusations that they have links to Cuba, saying the claims made in the report aim to increase pressure on Havana while intensifying the crackdown on dissent inside the US. [2] Antoni Kapcia, emeritus professor of Latin American history at the University of Nottingham, was surprised to see that an article he wrote in February for the left-wing magazine Jacobin was cited in the report. [2] Kapcia stressed that his argument was that anti-colonialist movements in the Global South in the mid-1960s were taking a Marxist line in opposition to imperialism. [2] He added that Cuba’s support for left-wing groups across the world has not been a consistent strategy. [2] It’s complete nonsense, Kapcia said of the claim that Cuba is sponsoring left-wing groups in the US. [2] Medea Benjamin, cofounder of Code Pink, told Al Jazeera that the organisation will not be intimidated by the Trump administration. [2] She said the approach of labelling activists as communists is a flashback to the 1950s at the height of the Cold War. [2] We are in an era of McCarthyism, where they’re not only labelling groups like us communists and trying to position us as enemies of the state, but also combining that with the efforts to crack down on protests, Benjamin told Al Jazeera. [2]
Trump Announces 100% Tariff on Generic Drugs
Trump plans to impose a 100% tariff on generic drugs starting August 2028. [1]
US Not Finished Attacking Iran as Strikes Widen
President Donald Trump warned that the United States was not finished attacking Iran, as Tehran widened strikes on Gulf states after its Houthi allies threatened to blockade Saudi ports. [5] Two weeks after fighting resumed between the decades-old foes, Trump said Iran would need more than 20 years to recover from the damage inflicted in the Middle East war. [5] If we left right now, it would take Iran 20, 25 years to rebuild, he said. [5] We’re not finished at all, we’re not leaving right now, Trump added. [5] The warning came as Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain reported Iranian attacks. [5] Bahrain said it intercepted Iranian attacks as sirens sounded repeatedly, while Kuwait and Jordan said they had intercepted drone and missile strikes. [5] Kuwait said Tehran had hit power and water desalination plants over several days, including on Monday, forcing residents to ration energy. [5] Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed a strike on Jordan, saying they had targeted a complex housing US terrorist forces in the region of Rukban. [5] The Iranian army had earlier said it targeted US assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, including air defence systems, radar installations and administrative buildings. [5] Following the deaths of at least three US soldiers in recent days, Washington launched new attacks against Iran on Monday that it said were designed to further degrade Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. [5] The deaths bring to 17 the number of US service members killed since the war resumed on 7 July. [5] Nearly 100 have been wounded, the Pentagon said Monday. [5] Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told US senators Tuesday that the war has cost the United States $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May. [5]
Lebanese Army Deploys in South After Israeli Withdrawal
Units of the Lebanese army on Tuesday began deploying in the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya in southern Lebanon following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area, a Lebanese security source and eyewitnesses told Xinhua. [4] The source said the deployment is part of the army’s mission in southern regions and aims to strengthen its security presence, noting that military units have started taking up positions in the town. [4] The Lebanese army command had earlier announced on Monday that its units continue carrying out missions in southern areas, including the towns of Froun and Srifa. [4] It also said coordination is ongoing with the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon to facilitate the deployment. [4] The development comes within the framework of coordination mechanisms related to security arrangements in southern Lebanon, which seek to reinforce the role of the Lebanese army in areas vacated by Israeli forces. [4]
What to watch next: Trump said he would take care of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels if they followed through on a threat to blockade Saudi Arabia’s ports, while diplomatic exchanges between Washington and Tehran through mediators were continuing. [5]
