Pro-Soviet Groups Push for Softer U.S.-Cuba Relations

Activist organizations with ties to the USSR are part of a movement to support the Cuban regime

Apr. 6, 2026 at 1:25pm

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A Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found that pro-Soviet Union groups active since the Cold War are part of a movement pushing for softer U.S.-Cuba relations. These activist organizations, which previously pushed Soviet-friendly agendas or had direct USSR ties, have joined efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba and protest U.S. sanctions on the regime.

Why it matters

The involvement of these Soviet-aligned groups in the Cuba solidarity movement raises concerns about the underlying political motivations behind the activism, which goes beyond simply supporting the Cuban people. Experts say these groups are using Cuba as a way to relive their revolutionary 1960s roots and push an anti-American agenda that has persisted since the USSR's collapse.

The details

The 'Nuestra América Convoy' that delivered aid to Cuba included strategic partners like the Soviet-aligned U.S. Peace Council, International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and National Lawyers Guild (NLG). The National Network on Cuba (NNOC), a coalition that includes the Soviet-sympathetic Communist Party USA (CPUSA), CovertAction Institute and Socialist Workers Party (SWP), also helped plan the convoy. These groups have long histories of pro-Soviet stances and ties to Moscow's active measures campaigns against the U.S. during the Cold War.

  • On March 21, activist organizations made headlines after delivering humanitarian aid to Cuba to protest President Donald Trump's sanctions on the regime.
  • In November, ICAP President Fernando González Llort told the NNOC that visiting Cuba is 'a political and truthful act' against America.

The players

Nuestra América Convoy

A convoy that delivered humanitarian aid to Cuba in protest of U.S. sanctions, with strategic partners including Soviet-aligned groups.

U.S. Peace Council

A Soviet-aligned group that the CIA and the group's former director say was created by the Soviets to campaign internationally against America.

International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)

An entity that the CIA and International Commission of Jurists exposed as a Soviet front group.

National Lawyers Guild (NLG)

A group that frequently took pro-Russia stances while denying it was a Soviet front, and helped create the IADL.

National Network on Cuba (NNOC)

A coalition of organizations that includes the Soviet-sympathetic Communist Party USA, CovertAction Institute and Socialist Workers Party.

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What they’re saying

“Cuba is a time capsule for old communists to relive their revolutionary 1960s youth, and a cult destination for younger militants who are either fully indoctrinated or see their support as virtue signaling against the United States.”

— J. Michael Waller, Cold War scholar and former CIA operative in Latin America

“Each approved local resolution, each caravan, each brigade, each communication piece that dismantles the lie, it is a sharp blow against the policy of asphyxiation.”

— Fernando González Llort, President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP)

What’s next

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The takeaway

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