{"id":49376,"date":"2026-07-25T13:09:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49376"},"modified":"2026-07-25T13:09:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:09:38","slug":"slamming-trumps-cuba-report-as-mccarthyite-attack-on-free-speech-dems-vow-to-fight-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/slamming-trumps-cuba-report-as-mccarthyite-attack-on-free-speech-dems-vow-to-fight-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Slamming Trump\u2019s Cuba Report as \u2018McCarthyite Attack\u2019 on Free Speech, Dems Vow to Fight Back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Ilhan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) speaks at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minnesota on May 30, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Alex Kormann\/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe stand firmly against this report and other efforts by the Trump administration to weaponize the federal government against dissent, which is a patriotic tradition.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jul 24, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s escalating claims that Cuba<\/a> and its supporters poses a threat to US security have been denounced<\/a> as \u201claughable\u201d and \u201ccrazy<\/a>,\u201d but progressive lawmakers are warning<\/a> that the State Department\u2019s report alleging that the country of roughly 10 million people aims to \u201cconquer\u201d the United States<\/a> and is backing \u201cleft-wing terrorism on American soil\u201d represents a genuine attack on Trump\u2019s perceived political enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump appears hell-bent on taking America back 70 years to the height of Cold War<\/a> McCarthyism, when hawkish foreign policy was paired with unsubstantiated accusations of communist subversion and political repression against dissidents at home,\u201d said a group of Democrats led by progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar<\/a> (D-Minn.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Taskforce. \u201cWe condemn this report\u2019s attack on Americans\u2019 constitutional rights to free speech<\/a> and assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"protest<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018McCarthyite\u2019 Rubio Report Ripped as Attempt to Justify Trump Invasion of Cuba<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Reps.<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As Trump Announces New Round of Sanctions Against Cuba, Democrats Warn Country Is Being \u2018Strangled to Death\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Omar on Thursday was joined by 10 other lawmakers, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> (D-NY), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), and Rashida Tlaib<\/a> (D-Mich.), in speaking out days after the State Department released its report<\/a> titled \u201cCuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report, said the lawmakers, was a \u201cMcCarthyite attack on Americans\u2019 free speech rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 100-page document claims that Cuba\u2019s communist government \u201chas waged a sustained campaign of subversion against the United States\u201d and recruited \u201cgenerations\u201d of activists in the US, listing by name people who have participated in solidarity<\/a> campaigns in support of Cuban people as the Trump administration<\/a> has imposed a destructive oil<\/a> blockade on the island nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump appears hell-bent on taking America back 70 years to the height of Cold War McCarthyism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, Trump issued an executive order declaring<\/a> that Cuba posed an \u201cextraordinary threat\u201d to US national security and threatened countries with tariffs<\/a> should they provide oil to the Cuban government. The administration had already cut off Cuba\u2019s top source of energy by taking control of Venezuela\u2019s vast oil reserves. The blockade has left<\/a> the Cuban healthcare<\/a> and education systems and other daily public services struggling to operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US groups and citizens named in the report as having spoken out against the administration\u2019s blockade and its threats of military action against Cuba include commentator Hasan Piker, Amazon Labor Union founder Christian Smalls, the National Lawyers Guild, and campus activist Isra Hirsi\u2014Omar\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe denounce this administration\u2019s irresponsible attacks against civil society organizations, activists, journalists, labor leaders, members of Congress, elected officials, and private individuals based on their advocacy for peaceful foreign policy and social justice<\/a> at home,\u201d said Omar and the Democrats who joined her in the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawmakers said they would use their \u201cfull oversight power as members of Congress and elected officials to stop the persecution of Trump\u2019s perceived political enemies,\u201d including those who speak out publicly against the president\u2019s policies in Cuba\u2014activity that is protected by the First Amendment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe stand firmly against this report and other efforts by the Trump administration to weaponize the federal government against dissent, which is a patriotic tradition,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report is the administration\u2019s latest attack on the free speech rights that are integral to the US Constitution<\/a> and American history. The White House<\/a> has pushed to deport<\/a> foreign students who protested the US-backed Israel war on Gaza<\/a>, designated<\/a> anti-fascist organizers as \u201cterrorists,\u201d and, nearly a year after issuing a presidential memo<\/a> demanding a strategy to \u201cdisrupt\u201d left-wing networks, recently convened<\/a> a summit to launch a \u201cglobal offensive against the transnational threat of Radical Left terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, said Omar on Thursday, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2014the son of Cuban immigrants and a long-time proponent of regime change on the island\u2014\u201care intensifying decades of economic war\u201d against the people of Cuba and deliberately depriving \u201cthe entire island\u2019s population of adequate food, fuel, and medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with ending his attacks on those who oppose his policies, said Omar, \u201cit is past time for Trump to obey the Constitution and end the dangerous, cruel, and illegal naval blockade causing collective punishment against Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) speaks at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minnesota on May 30, 2026.  (Photo by Alex Kormann\/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images) \u201cWe stand firmly against this report and other efforts by the Trump administration to weaponize the federal government against dissent, which is… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1880,1879],"tags":[1627,2266],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49377,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49376\/revisions\/49377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}