Rubio sanctions Cuban entities tied to US activist groups and ICAP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a warning to U.S. organizations: They can no longer do business with a major Cuban organization that has spent more than six decades developing relationships with U.S. activists and groups since Fidel Castro’s communist revolution in 1959; many of these are now financed by communist American businessman Neville Roy Singham.

The sanctions target the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, known by its Spanish acronym ICAP, which was founded by Castro in 1960 to spread Marxist ideology and provide support for Cuba. Long ago, U.S. officials and intelligence assessments concluded that ICAP was an important component of Cuba’s intelligence apparatus.

“For decades, Cuba has been the world capital of radical left terrorism,” Rubio said. he said. “The regime in Havana recruited, trained, and supported violent Marxist and third worldist movements throughout our hemisphere and beyond.”

REVOLUTIONARY TOURISM: DARK MONEY AND THE FAR LEFT IN THE 600 MILLION DOLLAR MARRIAGE OF AGITPROP

Earlier this year, ICAP worked with US nonprofits, including People’s Forum, Progressive International and CodePink, to organize a “convoy” in March that included controversial Marxist broadcaster Hasan Piker landing in Cuba in support of Cuba’s communist party.

The trip has come under federal scrutiny, with CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin confirming that she has received questions about the trip from federal authorities and is investigating whether it violated sanctions.

Late last month, Fox News Digital aired a three-part series reporting that federal investigators were looking into Cuba’s alleged malicious foreign influence operation in the United States, probing a network of 145 groups with nearly $1 billion in collective revenues, promoting Cuba’s agenda and communist ideology.

“Today we are targeting the network that enables and finances Cuba’s destructive and radical operations,” Rubio said.

Groups working closely with ICAP include People’s Forum, CodePink, BreakThrough News and Tricontinental, which is funded by Shanghai-based Marxist tech tycoon Singham. As reported, Singham has funneled $285 million since 2017 to ICAP and nonprofits that have very close ties to Cuba’s communist government.

Singham is married to CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans.

INSIDE CUBA’S FOREIGN INFLUENCE CAMPAIGN: FROM THE VENCEREMOS BRIGADE OF THE 1960s TO SATURDAY IN THE UNION HALL

ICAP is today led by Fernando González Llort, one of five former Cuban intelligence officers known as the “Cuban Five” who were convicted years ago in the United States on espionage-related charges and were released after serving time in prison.

Critics say ICAP served as a gateway for revolutionaries from around the world to become involved in the propaganda, organizational tactics, and strategic goals of the Cuban Communist Party. ICAP denied any wrongdoing and said it was a non-governmental organisation.

ICAP was one of five entities Rubio designated as banned under sanctions authorities created by President Donald Trump’s Cuba executive order. Sanctions also target the Cuban Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR), the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), Minera La Victoria SA, and state-run tourism company Amistur Cuba SA, which operates trips to Cuba with US non-profit organizations in its Singham network.

Experts said the move signals that the Trump administration is focusing not only on the Cuban government but also on U.S. institutions that U.S. officials believe help project Cuban influence internationally.

“Cuba: Castro’s Propaganda Apparatus and Foreign Policy,” a declassified Cold War-era CIA report, described Cuba’s international propaganda and influence activities as a central component of Castro’s foreign policy strategy. In the report, ICAP was among the organizations that acted as important vehicles for the development of sympathetic political movements abroad and the spread of Cuban influence beyond the island.

DOJ, TREASURY INVESTIGATING PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND LEADERS WHO ALLEGEDLY COORDINATED WITH CUBA IN THE IMPACT CAMPAIGN

One of the most notable examples was the Venceremos Brigade, a Cuban solidarity program founded in 1969 that brought generations of American activists to the island through exchanges with Cuban officials and institutions, including ICAP.

The program became one of the most visible pipelines connecting American activists to the Cuban revolutionary government.

Today the Venceremos Brigade operates as a financially supported project of the People’s Forum.

Lawmakers and federal officials are examining whether organizations funded by Singham acted on behalf of foreign interests without properly registering and helped amplify messages favorable to the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of Cuba.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) listens to David Adler, general coordinator of Progressive International, during an event at the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) in Havana on March 21, 2026. (Ernesto Mastrascusa/AFP via Getty Images)

HOW A RHODES SCHOOL LINKED TO THE PRESIDENT OF CUBA ORGANIZED THE CONVEY THAT BROUGHT HASAN PİKER TO HAVANA

During the last convoy in March, Progressive International co-founder David Adler appeared alongside Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and ICAP President González at an official event hosted by ICAP.

Years ago, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass participated in Venceremos Brigade tours; Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt resurfaced this connection during his campaign. Bas denied any wrongdoing.

Supporters of such exchanges describe them as educational and humanitarian programs aimed at improving international understanding. Critics argue that these function as political influence operations designed to build support for the Cuban regime and its ideological goals.

The Cuban government condemned Rubio’s sanctions shortly after the announcement.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the United States of increasing economic pressure on Cuba and trying to increase tensions between the two countries.

Democratic Socialists of America member Hasan Piker and CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans meet in Havana, Cuba, as part of the “United Front” supporting the communist regime. (CodePink via Storyful)

“The Treasury Department added new names of Cuban leaders, organizations and companies to the list of illegitimate sanctions,” Díaz-Canel wrote on social media. “These are aimed at strengthening the blockade measures and the conflict scenario between Cuba and the United States.”

Rubio’s warning went beyond the sanctioned entities.

The action signals the administration’s increasing focus on the networks, partnerships and channels of influence that U.S. officials believe have helped advance Cuban interests abroad long after the formal end of the Cold War.

“Anyone who provides services to these sanctioned actors is at risk of sanctions,” he said. “Foreign banks and other companies that provide services to these organizations should freeze these activities.”

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION

Fox News Digital’s Reagan Schroeder contributed to this report.