Side by side with its mounting attacks on Cuba, the U.S. government is stepping up probes against individuals and groups in the U.S. that promote solidarity with Cuba. It has begun issuing subpoenas to interrogate participants in the March “Nuestra América Convoy,” which had delivered humanitarian aid to be distributed by the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples.
The first two people targeted are Hasan Piker, an online commentator and supporter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of Code Pink.
At the same time, Fox News Digital issued a hit list of 145 organizations in what it calls the “pro-communist Cuba ecosystem,” including the Socialist Workers Party.
This witch hunt is a serious assault on constitutional freedoms.
There have been earlier probes preparing attacks on a number of groups, like the People’s Forum, Code Pink and others, but this is a new stage.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued the two subpoenas against Piker and Benjamin May 23. Both were on the convoy, which delivered 20 tons of much-needed supplies collected by solidarity groups from some 33 different countries.
“Taking medical supplies to pediatric hospitals in Cuba is now a crime?” Benjamin wrote in response.
The government agency is looking for evidence of violations of U.S. sanctions on Cuba that it could use to try to impose fines or other sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Unlike at a trial, this government office doesn’t have to prove the accused had any intent to carry out a crime.
Media reports say a special interest of the government is what hotels convoy members stayed in. They claim staying in a hotel run by the Cuban government is a violation of U.S. sanctions.
The Fox News Digital report issued the same day targets groups it says “are mobilizing in support of the Cuban government and the Communist Party of Cuba.”
It lists a number of unions, including the International Association of Machinists Local 1484, Service Employees International Union, Teamsters backing unionization efforts at Amazon, and the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 36.
Among the organizations targeted are the Venceremos Brigade, Pastors for Peace, National Network on Cuba and the National Lawyers Guild.
It lists groups that have organized humanitarian aid, from medical supplies to solar panels, like Global Health Partners.
Fox News Digital also singled out some political parties — the African People’s Socialist Party, Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America, Peace and Freedom Party, Socialist Unity Party and the Socialist Workers Party. Whatever their broader politics are, there is no secret these organizations have extended political solidarity to the Cuban Revolution.
In a statement to Fox, a spokeswoman for the Embassy of Cuba said it has violated no U.S. laws. “It is neither extraordinary, nor a violation of any international or U.S. law for Cuban diplomats to engage with civil society,” she said.
Fox News Digital says government snoops are also probing whether undisclosed organizations could be prosecuted for their ties to Cuba under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The law has been used to attack political organizations by claiming their views — like opposing Washington’s assaults on Cuba — can be twisted to mean they are “foreign agents” of the Cuban government.
The law was adopted as part of the U.S. rulers’ preparations to enter World War II. It was used to investigate the Socialist Workers Party, before party leaders were tried and imprisoned under the thought-control Smith Act.
Acting as “unregistered foreign agents” was also among the charges brought in 1998 against five Cuban revolutionaries. Known as the Cuban Five, they had come to the U.S. to gather information about groups who planned violent assaults on Cuba. (See article.)