State Department Report Revives Old Claims of Cuban Influence Over U.S. Activism

A newly issued State Department analysis repeats decades-old accusations that Cuba directs contemporary U.S. protest movements, linking the island to events such as the George Floyd demonstrations and Antifa.

The State Department’s 2026 release, “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” claims that the Caribbean nation exerts significant sway over modern U.S. left-wing activism, linking it to the George Floyd protests and the rise of Antifa. The document recycles Cold-War era conspiracy theories that once alleged Cuban involvement in the civil-rights movement, citing historic hearings and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee as evidence.

It highlights figures like Robert F. Williams, who fled to Havana in 1961, and mentions later activists such as Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis as illustrative of a supposed Cuban network. The report also ties the National Lawyers Guild, the Weather Underground, and a former Cuba-linked individual to contemporary movements like Black Lives Matter and the Standing Rock protests. Analysts criticize the paper for lacking new proof, pointing out Cuba’s struggling economy and the minimal scale of its social-media activity compared with other foreign actors. The piece underscores how revived anti-communist rhetoric can distract from pressing policy debates about U.S. relations with Cuba.