As students of U.S. propaganda and members of a broader movement for truth and international solidarity, we recognize the rhetorical structure of Gelet Martínez Fragela’s recent Washington Times opinion article as a classic example of Cold War–era fearmongering—revamped for a post-9/11 surveillance regime and funding-apartheid state, where dissent is pathologized, solidarity is criminalized, and anti-imperialism is deliberately conflated with terrorism. It repackages debunked tropes—Cuban subversion, radicalized activists, and terrorist ties to stoke fear, discredit our solidarity work, and justify U.S. sanctions and ongoing coup attempts.
Let’s be clear: the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) is not a covert intelligence apparatus; it is an international solidarity organization formed in 1960 to foster people-to-people solidarity in the face of U.S. aggression and blockade. It hosts global delegations of teachers, students, doctors, artists, and labor organizers—working class people who come to learn about Cuba’s achievements in health, education, and self-determination under extremely challenging conditions, orchestrated by the U.S. government.
To label these exchanges as terrorist recruitment is not only intellectually dishonest, it’s also dangerous. It flattens complex international movements for justice, misrepresents anti-imperialist critiques as “antisemitism,” and attempts to criminalize U.S. citizens for holding dissenting political beliefs. This is a textbook red-baiting strategy used historically to silence Black, Indigenous, Latin American, feminist, and socialist movements.
Targeting political organizations, and networks of solidarity activists are tactics that have been used for generations to push an elite political line.
Moreover, the author fails to disclose a crucial fact: In the past, ADN Cuba has been funded by USAID, a U.S. government agency with a long history of destabilizing foreign governments and funding anti-Cuban propaganda. This alone should prompt skepticism about the objectivity or independence of the claims made.
The real question isn’t “Is Cuba radicalizing Americans?”
It’s: Why does the U.S. government invest hundreds of millions in propaganda and sanctions to stop its residents from visiting a small island nation that offers free healthcare and universal education?
The answer is simple: because Cuba challenges U.S. imperial interests, and offers a different model, one that is rooted in solidarity, African resistance, and whose very nature counters racial capitalist exploitation.We urge all curious scholars, students, and activists: Come to Cuba, see it with your own eyes, and learn from the Cuban people themselves.
Do not let Gelet Martínez Fragela—whose voice echoes the lies and propaganda of the U.S. Empire—distort your vision. Experience the truth of Cuba beyond the disinformation campaign designed to undermine its example of dignity and sovereignty.
