The US State Department has released a 100-page report alleging that Cuba has spent decades building an ideological influence network inside the United States, naming more than 40 contemporary politicians, activists, labor leaders, media personalities and organizations it says form part of Havana’s broader campaign of “subversion.”

Titled Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism, the report argues that Cuba has shaped segments of the American left through political solidarity, activism and long-standing relationships. In many cases, however, it stops short of alleging direct control by the Cuban government.

Among those named are New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Maxine Waters, former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, commentator Hasan Piker, journalist Amy Goodman, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, Code Pink co-founders Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans and Diane Wilson, technology businessman Neville Roy Singham, labor organizer Christian Smalls, activist Claudia de la Cruz, organizer Manolo De Los Santos, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, activist Isra Hirsi, attorney Suzanne Adely, activist Paul Larudee, playwright Eve Ensler (V) and George Floyd, whose 2020 killing the report says was exploited by Cuba for ideological purposes.

The report also identifies organizations including the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Amazon Labor Union, Black Lives Matter and its affiliated organizations, Code Pink, National Lawyers Guild, Black Alliance for Peace, People’s Forum, Party for Socialism and Liberation, IFCO/Pastors for Peace, National Network on Cuba, Viva Palestina US, Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees (AIPAC), Thousand Currents, Equality for Flatbush, Assata’s Daughters, Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective, Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, changingFrequencies and the Claudia Jones School.

According to the report, Cuba’s influence extends through ideological alignment, solidarity delegations, activist exchanges and political organizing rather than traditional espionage. It acknowledges that the DSA was “not shaped by the direct and tangible influence of the Cuban government” and has “organic ideological commitments,” while maintaining the organization has connections to Cuba’s influence network.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Cuban government has been “the leading sponsor of radical leftism and Third Worldism in the United States” for more than six decades.

The document follows last week’s State Department summit on what officials termed “far-left terrorism,” during which Rubio indicated additional terrorist designations could be announced.

The report has drawn immediate criticism from journalists and commentators who argue it revives Cold War-era political tactics by associating lawful political activism with foreign influence.

Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein described the report as a “government blacklist” of the American left, noting that it explicitly references the “blacklists, McCarthy-era investigations and prosecutions” of the 1950s while discussing efforts against the Communist Party USA.

Journalist Max Blumenthal argued the document echoes McCarthyism by stigmatizing political opponents through association rather than presenting evidence that those named knowingly acted on behalf of a foreign government. Supporters of the report, however, contend it documents decades of Cuban efforts to cultivate ideological allies in the United States and raises concerns about foreign influence operations targeting American political movements.