Is There a “Cuba Connection” Behind the Radicalization of America’s Nonprofit Left?

(Zero Hedge)—A common pattern across America’s far-left organizations is alarming behavior that appears militant, resembling revolutionary movements more than civic advocacy. There is a historical explanation that is rarely discussed: for decades, Cuban intelligence has penetrated and influenced segments of the radical left, enabling influence operations with nation-killing objectives.

This is not a new phenomenon, nor is it speculative. The pattern stretches back more than half a century and follows a consistent arc: student activism, escalation into disorder, foreign ideological grooming, and institutional capture through nonprofits that later rebrand as “civil society.”

The story begins in 1968, when members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), including Mark Rudd and Bernadine Dohrn, were invited to Cuba. That trip resulted in the founding of the Venceremos Brigade, which publicly framed itself as a solidarity delegation but privately represented something more consequential. Multiple intelligence assessments and contemporary reporting alleged that SDS radicals requested formal training from the Castro regime, including instruction in explosives and sabotage. The objective was explicit: to move from protest politics to revolutionary struggle with foreign backing.

Upon his return to the U.S., Rudd was elected president of Columbia University’s SDS chapter and quickly presided over a wave of sit-ins, building takeovers, and riots that paralyzed campus life and captured national attention. After his expulsion, Rudd, alongside Dohrn, went on to become co-founders of the Weather Underground, a domestic extremist organization responsible for bombings and violent underground activity throughout the early 1970s.

The lesson Cuba learned from this period was very simple: American radicals could be trained, networked, ideologically shaped, and then sent back to do their dirty work.

Last week, we were honored to send a delegation of 40 DSA elected leaders & rank-and-file members from chapters big & small across the country to #Cuba, where they delivered hundreds of pounds of solidarity aid & learned about the achievements & challenges of Cuban socialism. pic.twitter.com/SD1hul0PB7

— DSA (@DemSocialists) October 20, 2025

Guess where Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass got her start in politics…

Did You Know:

Karen Bass got her start in politics in the Venceremos Brigade, a Marxist front group in the US funded by Cuba

She traveled to Cuba many times

The Venceremos Brigade directly spawned domestic terror groups the Weather Underground and May 19th Org pic.twitter.com/Pno87kL50S

— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) January 25, 2025

Here’s what happened in Los Angeles this summer…

Fast-forward to 2025, and the same structure still exists, but it has been supercharged with vastly greater assets and manpower, fueled by billionaire leftists who operate what is now widely described as the protest industrial complex. This network is increasingly described as a color-revolution-style operation led by NGOs to undermine the Trump administration and ‘America First.’ What were once underground protest movements now operate openly and, in some cases, violently, supported by armies of “movement lawyers,” expansive national coalitions, and dark-money-funded NGOs. There was even the political assassination of Charlie Kirk this fall, a reality that even Deep State media outlets like The Atlantic were forced to acknowledge…

According to a defected Cuban intelligence officer and corroborating intelligence reporting, legacy Castro-aligned groups such as the Venceremos Brigade and the National Lawyers Guild have been controlled by Cuba’s Dirección General de Inteligencia (DGI) since at least the 1980s. That influence is exerted through ICAP (the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples).

ICAP is an official Cuban government organization, founded in 1960, that promotes international solidarity and cultural exchange. On paper, it organizes delegations, volunteer brigades, educational tours, and international conferences that oppose U.S. sanctions and support Cuba’s political system. It appears benign – almost quaint.

WATCH: Washington Post Reporter Says Democrats Won’t ‘Go Hard’ On Cuba Because They Agree With The Regime https://t.co/O8tP3Wb17a pic.twitter.com/tV2Uk9B9h3

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 19, 2021

But declassified CIA documents dating back to the Cold War describe a consistent operational method: foreign recruits were brought to Cuba for training in intelligence tradecraft or guerrilla sabotage and were received by DGI officers posing as ICAP officials. ICAP functioned as the intake valve – political cover for intelligence operations designed to cultivate long-term assets rather than short-term spies.

What exists today is not a single organization but a complex ecosystem.

ICAP sits at the center, functioning as a coordinating hub. Orbiting it is the National Network on Cuba (NNOC), a deliberately loose coalition that links 77 organizations of activists, nonprofits, and campaigns while minimizing legal exposure or clear command structures. The National Lawyers Guild serves as the lawfare and agitation arm, training protesters, facilitating delegations, and litigating against U.S. institutions under the guise of civil rights.

Funding and infrastructure come from the Neville Roy Singham Network, a web of organizations tied to Chinese Communist Party-aligned capital that provides money, logistics, and professionalized organizing capacity. Public narratives are amplified by legacy anti-war organizations like CODEPINK and the ANSWER Coalition, which are also now under the Singham umbrella. They frame U.S. foreign policy as illegitimate while defending authoritarian adversaries. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) functions as the political activation channel, translating activist energy into electoral and legislative influence on behalf of the Cuban regime.

Viewed individually, each organization insists it is merely engaging in advocacy. Viewed together, the pattern is unmistakable.

Examine the leadership and membership of the National Network on Cuba and the picture sharpens further. Calla Walsh, founder of PalAction U.S. and Unity of Fields, served as a co-chair of NNOC. Manolo De Los Santos lived in Cuba for six years and maintains relationships with senior ICAP officials and Cuban political leadership. Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK lived in Cuba for five years, married a Cuban communist, and went on to build organizations centered around Cuba delegations. Groups as radical as Armed Queers of Salt Lake City appear inside NNOC membership rolls. The DSA has held meetings at the Cuban Embassy in New York City and subsequently traveled to Cuba, where it announced a formal partnership with ICAP.

?? ?? These Cuba trips are run through ICAP, a shadowy Cuban intel front, and the Venceremos Brigade. Since 1970, at least 744 delegations have brought U.S. activists to Havana for a crash course in communist collaboration. Cuba used to be a proxy for the Soviets but lately it’s… pic.twitter.com/n4QePQ99UE

— Peter Schweizer (@peterschweizer) September 16, 2025

None of this proves espionage in the cinematic sense. It does not need to.

?? MAJOR BREAKING 2: The 2025 May Day trip of SLC Armed Queers to Cuba: “Well, if we’re terrorists, we’re proud to be terrorists”

I’ve obtained a now-deleted video.

In it, Ermiya Fanaeian and an unidentified man named Connor talk openly about:

? Palestinian students at… pic.twitter.com/CBkStDYjEO

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 16, 2025

Come on now…

So here is @senwarren with the head of the Salt Lake City Armed Queers (she/her). Let’s see what a few hours of tracing lobby fund flows will reveal next. https://t.co/8TaLE0e4QA

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 17, 2025

Influence operations are not about secrets; they are about shaping norms, training protest foot soldiers, and aligning political instincts. By that measure, Cuba’s intelligence services have been extraordinarily successful. Entire segments of the U.S. radical nonprofit sphere now reflexively defend foreign authoritarian regimes and justify violence, while dehumanizing and demonizing half the country by calling them “Nazis” and “fascists.”

Here is the roadmap to Charlie Kirk’s assassination… pic.twitter.com/S4JPbPiFy8

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 12, 2025

The reason target profiling of Republicans was done by the radical left and Democrats is very simple:

• “Planning War Against Fascists” – Socialist Rifle Association Boasts 10,000 Members

Many of these organizations are conspicuously opposed to anything associated with America First, with some openly calling for the destruction of Western capitalism and even the end of the U.S. Strikingly, they all sing from the same radical Marxist songbook.

If you want to understand why the radical left appears to hate America and seeks to implode the nation from within, it is not difficult to see that these ideas are rarely developed organically. More often, they are shaped and reinforced by outside influences. This chart helps explain why the radical left has become so radical.

As per The Washington Times, “Cuba’s intelligence apparatus is training foreign nationals to wage war against the West.”

It’s already begun:

• US Gov’t Foils Terror Plot By Far-Left Group Plotting New Year’s Eve Bomb Attack

The Atlantic is absolutely correct: “Left-Wing Terrorism Is on the Rise.” And perhaps we just unveiled why…