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Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed US organizations: they will no longer be able to do business with an important Cuban organization that has spent more than sixty years since the founding of Fidel Castro’s communist revolution in 1959, cultivating relationships with American activists and groups, many of which are now sponsored by the American communist tycoon Neville Roy Singham.
These sanctions target the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, known by its Spanish acronym ICAP, an organization founded by Castro in 1960 to spread Marxist ideas and support for Cuba. Long ago, US officials and intelligence evaluations concluded that ICAP was an important part of Cuba’s intelligence service.
“For decades, Cuba has been the global capital of left-wing terrorism,” Rubio said. “The regime in Havana has recruited, trained and supported violent Marxist and third-worldist movements in our hemisphere and beyond.”
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Marco Rubio moves sanctions on the group founded by Fidel Castro in 1960 to spread the influence of communist Cuba in the world. (Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photography/Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Earlier this year, ICAP worked with US nonprofits, including the People’s Forum, Progressive International and CodePink – to organize a March “convoy” that included controversial Marxist broadcaster Hasan Piker who came to Cuba to support the Cuban communist party.
The trip has attracted federal scrutiny, with CodePink founder Medea Benjamin confirming that she received questions from government officials about the trip, investigating whether she violated sanctions.
Late last month, Fox News Digital published a three-part series, reporting that government investigators are investigating Cuba’s suspected foreign influence in the US, investigating a network of 145 groups with a combined total of $1 billion, promoting the Cuban agenda and Communist ideology.
“Today, we are looking at the network that created and funded Cuban coup activities,” Rubio said.
Groups affiliated with ICAP include the People’s Forum, CodePink, BreakThrough News and Tricontinental, sponsored by Singham, a Marxist technologist living in Shanghai. As reported, Singham has invested $285 million since 2017 in these nonprofits that have developed close ties to ICAP and the communist government of Cuba.
Singham is married to CodePink founder Jodie Evans.
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ICAP today is led by Fernando González Llort, one of the five intelligence officials in Cuba, known as the “Cuban Five,” who were convicted in the US years ago on espionage-related charges and released after spending time in prison. Critics say ICAP serves as a gateway for revolutionaries from around the world to focus on the propaganda, strategic planning and strategic objectives of the Cuban Communist Party. ICAP has denied wrongdoing and says it is a civil society organisation.
ICAP was one of five organizations that Rubio singled out as restrictions under the sanctions authority established by President Donald Trump’s order against Cuba. The sanctions also target the Cuban Ministry of Defense (MINFAR), the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), Minera La Victoria SA and the state-owned tourism company Amistur Cuba SA, which organized trips to Cuba with US non-profit organizations in the Singham network.
Experts say that this move shows that the Trump administration is not only focused on the Cuban government but also on American institutions that American officials believe are helping to generate Cuba’s influence in the world.
A declassified Cold War-era CIA report, “Cuba: Castro’s Propaganda Apparatus and Foreign Policy,” described Cuba’s international propaganda and influence operations as a key part of Castro’s foreign policy strategy. The report named ICAP among organizations that serve as important tools for cultivating sympathetic political movements abroad and extending Cuban influence beyond the island.
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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 organized with Cuban authorities and institutions including ICAP.
This program became one of the most visible conduits connecting American activists to the Cuban revolutionary government.
Today, the Venceremos Brigade operates as a funded project of the People’s Forum.
Lawmakers and government authorities are investigating whether organizations sponsored by Singham have served foreign interests without proper registration and helped spread messages in favor of the Communist Party of China and the Communist Party of Cuba.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) listens to the general coordinator of Progressive International, David Adler, during an event at the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) in Havana, March 21, 2026. The former Cuban intelligence chief who is now the president of ICAP, sits to the right of the Cuban president. (Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa / POOL / AFP via Getty Images) (Ernesto Mastrascusa/AFP via Getty Images)
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During a series of recent cruises in March, Progressive International 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 the Venceremos Brigade march, a connection that also came up in her mayoral bid Spencer Pratt during his campaign. Bass has denied any wrongdoing.
Proponents of these exchanges describe them as educational and humanitarian programs aimed at promoting international understanding. Critics say they operate 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 intensify the tension between the two countries.
Hasan Piker, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and CodePink founder Jodie Evans met in Havana, Cuba, as part of the “United Front” supporting the communist regime. (CodePink via Storyful)
“The Ministry of Finance has added new names of Cuban leaders, organizations and companies to the list of illegal sanctions,” Díaz-Canel wrote on social media. “They are intended to strengthen the blocking measures and the nature of the conflict between Cuba and the United States.”
Rubio’s warning went beyond the sanctioned organizations.
The action shows that the administration is focusing more on networks, partnerships and channels of influence that US officials believe have helped advance Cuban interests abroad long after the end of the Cold War.
“Anyone who provides services to these assigned actors is at risk of being punished,” he said. “Foreign banks and other companies that provide services to these organizations should stop those activities.”
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Fox News Digital’s Reagan Schroeder contributed to this report.
