Tag: cuba

All Hell Breaks Loose at the United Nations: Waltz Spokesman Assaulted

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz took the floor of the General Assembly hall on Tuesday to expose the wealth Cuba’s communist rulers have taken for themselves. He ended up in a shouting match with the regime’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.

The assembly was debating a non-binding resolution demanding an end to the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial embargo on Cuba, with a vote set for Wednesday. According to a report from the New York Post, Waltz used his time to show the room who actually benefits from the system that resolution seeks to prop up.

He started with the perks of Cuba’s political elite: real estate, luxury watches, and private jets, all enjoyed while ordinary Cubans sit through blackouts and shortages. Waltz then held up a photo of Che Guevara wearing a Rolex watch valued at roughly $40,000.

“According to the regime’s own statistics, that would pay for 55 years of an average Cuban wage,” Waltz said.

He also accused Fidel Castro’s government of sending “thousands of people, homosexuals, Christians, Afro-Cubans and others to concentration camps.” Then Waltz produced a second photo, this one of Cuba’s current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.

“It didn’t just start with Castro,” Waltz said. “This is the current Cuban president, also with a Rolex on.”

The Cuban delegation wasn’t happy about this and banged on their desks. Rodríguez got out of his seat, walked up to the podium, and asked General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman to call Waltz to order under Rule 71. Waltz turned to the delegates as Rodríguez closed in.

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SOUTHCOM Commander Urges Cubans To Seize The Moment Alongside CIA Recruitment Pitch

The commander of Southern Command, Marine Corps Gen. Francis L. Donovan, posted on the command’s official X account on October 24. He urged Cubans to push for political change. “Cuba’s future belongs to those who act. Seize the moment and build the change you want to see,” he wrote. He claimed Cubans should be fed up with the broken promises, the huge corruption, and the small elite that lives in luxury while ignoring the majority of the population. Donovan’s message amplified a Spanish-language message from the CIA inviting Cubans to open up a confidential contact with the agency.

This is highly unusual for a combatant command. A senior operational commander does not normally post a message to help an intelligence agency recruit citizens of another country to be an agent.

This unusual proposition was posted on SOUTHCOM’s social media account on October 24, as the third of a series of messages from senior US officials to Cubans seeking to engineer positive change to engage in a “discrete partnership” with the CIA. The CIA messages — a brief Spanish-language solicitation and a video explaining how Cubans could contact them — included tips on how to use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), to use private browsing and throwaway email addresses to contact them.

At a South Florida rally, President Trump said that warships returning from operations related to Iran would pass Cuba and stop about 50 yards off the coast. Rubio would then be sent in to finish the deal, the President said. In late September Trump said an agreement with Havana could be reached without military intervention. Rubio said September 29 that Cuba had already fallen.

Measures to pressure Cuba in 2026 include an oil blockade, additional economic restrictions, and interdiction of fuel shipments to the island by the Coast Guard which have contributed to fuel shortages and electricity blackouts. Furthermore, a dedicated task force on Cuba has been established by the CIA, and military options for dealing with Havana under review. All of this, according to ClashReport, has increased in recent months in light of the January operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and a rare meeting earlier this year with senior Cuban military officials held by Donovan at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

Havana dismissed the campaign as desperation, as Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío characterized the CIA’s attempt to publicly reach out to Cubans for contact. He compared it to the marketing of toothpaste, according to ClashReport.

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Florida Issues NO-BOND ARREST WARRANT for Communist Dictator Raúl Castro, 95, on First-Degree Murder Conspiracy Charge Over Killing of Four Americans

Florida is coming after communist Cuban dictator Raúl Castro, and this time, the 95-year-old brother of Fidel Castro is facing a state arrest warrant in connection with the deaths of four men nearly three decades ago.

A Miami-Dade County judge has issued a NO-BOND arrest warrant for Castro on a state charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, stemming from the February 24, 1996, shootdown of two unarmed civilian aircraft operated by the Miami-based humanitarian organization Brothers to the Rescue.

The warrant was signed Friday, October 16, following an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It comes as Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier intensifies efforts to hold the former Cuban leader accountable for the deadly attack.

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History Will Tell How Canada’s Spies Helped Trump in Cuba

Canada has long assisted the US bid to suffocate Cuba. And the roots of intelligence sharing undercut the idea of Ottawa standing up to US bullying.

On Saturday the Globe and Mail confirmed that Canada has long spied on Cuba for the US. In “Canadians passed intelligence to U.S. at time of alleged attacks in Cuba: source”, Robert Fife reports, “A Canadian diplomat was sharing intelligence with American spies in Havana and Canadians were using satellite equipment brought into Cuba by the United States when officials from both countries began experiencing debilitating symptoms caused by alleged sonic attacks linked to Russia.”

The long story about the 2017 “Havana syndrome” describes how a Canadian diplomat gathered human intelligence on the island, which was often passed on directly to a CIA agent at the US embassy. Another source told Fife that “Canadians were using satellite equipment brought in surreptitiously by the United States.” The information gathered was sent to the intelligence division at Global Affairs, CSIS and to Five Eyes partners (US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand). Fife added, “the two sources said the Canadian embassy’s intelligence-gathering was valued by the U.S. because of Canada’s longstanding friendship with Cuba. Unlike the Americans, Canadian diplomats had better access to Cuban officials and were allowed to travel outside of Havana.”

As has been documented by multiple sources, including the 2015 International Journal article “Our men in Havana: Canadian foreign intelligence operations in Castro’s Cuba”, Canada has spied for the US since the Cuban revolution. In fact, Washington’s request for Canadian spying assistance is part of the reason Ottawa didn’t sever diplomatic relations with Havana after the 1959 revolution. In the 2007 book Three Nights in Havana: Pierre Trudeau, Fidel Castro, and the Cold War World Robert Wright explains: “Recently declassified State Department documents have revealed that, far from encouraging Canada to support the embargo, the United States secretly urged [Prime Minister John] Diefenbaker to maintain normal relations because it was thought that Canada would be well positioned to gather intelligence on the island.”

Ottawa did not let Washington down. The Communications Security Establishment (CSE), Canada’s NSA, listened to Cuban leaders’ secret conversations from an interception post in the Canadian embassy in Havana and Canadian diplomats were among the first to alert the US to incoming Soviet arms and troops before the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. A senior Canadian official, close to Washington, in Inside Canadian intelligence: exposing the new realities of espionage and international terrorism “admitted that the U.S. made ‘far greater use’ of our intelligence during the Cuban Missile Crisis than has been revealed.” Pentagon and State Department sources cite the UK and Canada as the only countries that “supply any real military information on Cuba” with Canada providing “the best” military intelligence.

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Cuba In Crosshairs: US Army Reportedly Checks Troop Availability As Trump Says Communist Regime “Will Fail”

President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the failed communist island nation of Cuba would see freedom, as the U.S. has not been shy about its intentions to kick the communist regime out of Havana. The U.S. has employed gunboat diplomacy through an oil blockade this year, as the failed state has seen its economy collapse even further.

“My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba, where the communist regime is under great pressure, the biggest pressure they’ve ever been under. It’s an absolutely failed state; it’s failing like never before, and it will fall,” Trump said in his speech at UNGA.

With Trump’s UNGA comments in mind, CBS News reports that it has reviewed an internal Army memo assessing the availability of military police, medical teams, and logistics units for possible use under Southern Command within 90 to 120 days.

The memo does not mention Cuba, identify troop numbers, or specify an operation. It also contains no indication that units have received deployment orders so far.

Here’s more color from the report:

The document reviewed by CBS News says Army Reserve headquarters is seeking feedback from subordinate commands on the possible availability of six types of formations that would fall under the authority of U.S. Southern Command. The units would “possibly [be] needed in 90-120 days,” according to the message, which directs commands to provide feedback to Army Reserve headquarters by Sept. 25. 

Among the units is a combat sustainment support battalion that specializes in coordinating logistics such as transportation, maintenance, fuel and supply needs, along with an engineer battalion. The document also seeks an expeditionary sustainment command that would oversee logistics across a theater of operations. 

The document generated last week also calls for a medical brigade to command and coordinate medical units, as well as a forward resuscitative and surgical detachment to provide emergency surgery and trauma care closer to U.S. forces. Finally, the document seeks a military police brigade — these units typically oversee military police forces responsible for security, detention and other law enforcement missions. 

In July, CBS reported that military planners had examined an air assault involving thousands of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division. Another report by Politico in August suggested that the U.S. intelligence community had “sent spies and assets” to Cuba. Specifically, the outlet reported that the CIA had increased its presence on the island, which sits about 90 miles south of Florida.

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U.S. military lays groundwork for potential action around Cuba

The U.S. Army Reserve is examining whether it can provide the military’s Southern Command with police forces, medical personnel and other support units within the next four months, according to an internal Army message reviewed by CBS News.

Though the message makes no reference to Cuba, the request is for continued military planning aimed at Cuba, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

There is no indication in the document that any units have received deployment orders. But the planning comes as the Trump administration puts intense economic pressure on Cuba and urges the island nation to make political reforms.

The message does not identify how many troops would be needed in the Southern Command’s region, which covers Central and South America, including the Caribbean. It also does not specify where the forces could be sent or what operation they would support. 

The document reviewed by CBS News says Army Reserve headquarters is seeking feedback from subordinate commands on the possible availability of six types of formations that would fall under the authority of U.S. Southern Command. The units would “possibly [be] needed in 90-120 days,” according to the message, which directs commands to provide feedback to Army Reserve headquarters by Sept. 25. 

Among the units is a combat sustainment support battalion that specializes in coordinating logistics such as transportation, maintenance, fuel and supply needs, along with an engineer battalion. The document also seeks an expeditionary sustainment command that would oversee logistics across a theater of operations. 

The document generated last week also calls for a medical brigade to command and coordinate medical units, as well as a forward resuscitative and surgical detachment to provide emergency surgery and trauma care closer to U.S. forces. Finally, the document seeks a military police brigade — these units typically oversee military police forces responsible for security, detention and other law enforcement missions. 

Contacted by CBS News, the Army Reserve did not respond before publication. 

A spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command said: “Due to operational security concerns, we do not disclose details or comment on U.S. operational movements or potential deployment timelines associated with current or future operations, contingencies, or planning. However, U.S. Southern Command continuously coordinates with the Joint Force to assess a range of potential requirements across its [area of responsibility] in support of assigned missions.” 

Earlier this year, American forces conducted reconnaissance operations on the seafloor and maritime approaches surrounding the Cuban island, multiple U.S. military personnel told CBS News. Separately, U.S. airpower components were placed on heightened readiness and directed to pre-stage personnel for potential deployment. Those plans, however, did not come to fruition. CBS News is withholding certain details from publication that could potentially put U.S. service members at risk.

CBS News reported in May that U.S. intelligence officials were assessing how Cuba would respond to possible U.S. military action, as the Trump administration accused Havana of strengthening ties with Russia, China and Iran. The intelligence community’s 2026 annual threat assessment largely portrays Cuba as an enabling environment for larger geopolitical competitors, rather than as an independent strategic threat.

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DSA Democrats Praise This ‘Socialist Model’ – Communist Cuba’s Power Grid Collapses

The power grid in Cuba has once more failed, leaving residents of the Caribbean island in darkness.

Reuters reported on Friday that the electrical grid sustained a “total collapse” as millions were left entirely without power.

The outlet noted that the collapse of the power grid was driven by high-voltage transmission lines failing in central Cuba around 2 p.m.

Felix Estrada, an ⁠official with Cuba’s National Electrical Union, said in a statement that “protocols are now in place to begin ​the gradual restoration of the system.”

Some neighborhoods in Havana — especially those near hospitals — had their power restored by Friday evening.

But the rest of Cuba’s capital and largest city remained dark even as clouds and rain gathered.

Reuters reported that there have been at least six partial or total blackouts so far this year in Cuba.

There were three collapses in July alone.

The outlet added that many in Havana are accustomed to the grid failing, and are used to enduring many hours or even days without power.

“Yesterday I’d gone without ‌power ⁠for 24 hours. They turned the lights on for an hour, and then the grid collapsed,” Frank Lorenzo, a 23-year-old Havana resident, told Reuters.

Reuters noted that the power grid has been placed under additional strain by the U.S. oil blockade that started in January.

The Council on Foreign Relations said in a 2023 analysis that the nation’s communist regime was at its weakest point in decades — even before the most recent woes.

“Cuba’s centrally planned economy has been mired by stagnation for decades. But over the past five years, the pillars propping up the island’s already feeble economy collapsed one by one, sending it into a tailspin,” the think tank noted.

Among other factors, oil production from Venezuela declined, while Brazil and Colombia nixed arrangements under which Cuba sent medical professionals to work abroad and took most of their pay.

Cuban tourism also plummeted with COVID lockdowns.

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Cuba Hit With National Power Grid Collapse As Oil Sources Dry Up

Cuba’s power grid collapsed once again this week, this time at a national level, leaving millions of people across the island without electricity.  This is the sixth time since the US cut off fuel sources to the island since January that the national grid has collapsed and it’s the most utility shutdown events in the country’s recent history.  

Even when Cuba’s grid is in operation, only 30% of the population at most receives electricity at any given time.  Many regions stay dark 20 to 30 hours at a stretch. Some provinces have reported 60–90 hours without power. Havana has gone from 4 hours a day early in the year to 18 hours after the fuel cutoff. 

“Protocols are now in place to begin ​the gradual restoration of the system,” said Felix Estrada, an ⁠official with Cuba’s National Electrical Union (UNE). Power had returned to a handful of ​scattered neighborhoods in Havana by late evening, primarily around hospitals, but much of ​the city remained completely dark.

Many exhausted residents ​of the capital Havana were already without power when the national blackout hit.

“Yesterday I’d gone without ‌power ⁠for 24 hours. They turned the lights on for an hour, and then the grid collapsed,” said Frank Lorenzo, a 23-year-old Havana resident.

Around 61% of Cuba’s oil was sourced from Venezuela until the US capture of illegitimate president Nicolas Maduro.  Shipments from Mexico have were also scaled back and then cut off.  Russia has sent only one tanker so far this year. 

Reports of a “shadow fleet” of tankers carrying Iranian oil to Cuba have circulated since at least 2020.  Investigations of the seized tanker “Skipper” in 2025 found it had previously carried Iranian oil to Syria and China, then later moved Venezuelan oil on a route tied to Cuba. It confirmed the existence of overlapping Iran–Venezuela–Cuba shipping networks. 

The US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has proven incredibly effective in shutting down Iranian oil exports, leaving Iran’s clandestine trade partners high and dry.  

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DSA Member Embarrassed AGAIN After Confronted with Realities of Communist Cuba

The Gateway Pundit reported that the National Co-Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ashik Siddique, became a bumbling mess when confronted by Latino journalist Jorge Ramos, when he was asked a simple question about whether or not Cuba is a dictatorship.

He immediately tried to make the issue about Trump and the blockade on Cuba, because he could not answer the question honestly.

CNN’s Boris Sanchez confronted Siddique over the organization’s unfounded praise of Cuba, and shared the story of his anti-Batista grandfather being imprisoned by Castro to drive home the realities of the regime.

Once again, Siddique was so shaken that he couldn’t form a response.

Sanchez told Siddique, “I get your criticism of foreign policy. As I said, it’s not an uncommon one, but lauding Fidel Castro is a different story.”

“You talk about what things were like before the revolution in Cuba. I’ll give you a personal example. My grandfather was a revolutionary in Cuba during that time. He was affected by a previous dictator, Fulgencio Batista, having his friends disappeared in the street for speaking their minds.”

“My grandfather found that revolution, hoping to bring democracy to Cuba, and then what happened?”

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DSA Members Can’t Bring Themselves to Admit Cuba is a Dictatorship – Immediately Try to BUT TRUMP!

During a recent conversation with Latino journalist Jorge Ramos, high ranking members of the DSA turned into a stuttering mess when they were asked a simple question about whether or not Cuba is a dictatorship. HINT – It is.

They immediately try to make the issue about Trump and the blockade on Cuba, because they cannot answer this question honestly.

Ramos keeps trying to give them an opportunity to answer the question, pointing out that Cuba has not had real elections in decades, engages in all forms of censorship and has political prisoners, but they just won’t embrace the truth.

From Stu Smith:

DSA Co-Chairs Squirm When Pressed on Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua

This is a longer clip, but it captures the best parts of a broader discussion DSA national co-chairs Ashik Siddique and Megan Romer had with The Moment hosts Jorge Ramos and Paola Ramos.

Jorge repeatedly presses them on whether Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua are dictatorships. They repeatedly avoid giving him a direct answer.

Romer eventually responds that “Cubans have access to their democracy in a way that we do not,” pointing to Cuba’s 2022 Family Code referendum as evidence. That referendum was only four years ago, making it an especially curious answer to Jorge Ramos repeatedly pressing her on decades without multiparty elections.

Ashik Siddique fares little better. Asked whether Cuba is a dictatorship, he pivots to the U.S. embargo and the state of American politics, responding that “it’s hard for us to judge other countries being dictatorships when we have Donald Trump as president.”…

When it comes to international politics, DSA is often at its most revealing. Siddique and Romer are not even among the organization’s most die-hard internationalists. This is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how radical DSA’s international politics can get.

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