Staff Reports
The State Department’s 100‑page report, “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” landed like a splash of cold water on Washington. Released on July 20, 2026, it lays out a long record of Cuban espionage and influence operations and prompted immediate policy moves from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s team. Predictably, some in the media and the academy called it a “red scare.” That charge deserves a sharp answer.
What the report says and the policy response
The report catalogs Havana’s decades of intelligence work and influence efforts inside the United States and pairs that record with new policy steps. The State Department rolled out visa‑restriction language aimed at “Far‑Left Terrorist and other aligned groups” and convened a ministerial focused on the resurgence of political terrorism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led the rollout and made clear the administration sees this as more than history class fodder. Saying you are taking action is not hysteria. It is common sense.
Proven cases the report relies on
This isn’t guesswork. The report points to real prosecutions and well‑documented betrayals. Victor Manuel Rocha, a former U.S. diplomat and National Security Council official, pleaded guilty and was sentenced after admitting he acted for Havana. The Department of Justice has also filed a civil denaturalization complaint tied to that case. The old, famous cases are also part of the record: Ana Belén Montes at the Defense Intelligence Agency and Walter Kendall Myers at the State Department were convicted and sentenced for spying for Cuba. These are not rumors. They are court records and FBI files.
Calling a report a “red scare” misses the point
Some critics pick one paragraph and declare the whole report a McCarthyite fantasy. That is lazy. It ignores decades of proven spying. It also confuses critique with defense of those who would quietly help an adversary. No one is asking to re‑run witch hunts. We are asking competent public servants to name dangers and use targeted tools—like visa restrictions—to protect our democracy. Pretending that past convictions and current analytic judgments are the same as partisan persecution is a dodge, not an argument.
Why Americans should care
If the United States cannot acknowledge real threats, we cannot defend against them. The State Department report is a warning backed with evidence and followed by policy. Americans should demand the facts be debated honestly, not dismissed with clever slogans. If critics want to disagree with Secretary Rubio’s policy choices, fine. But calling the whole effort a “red scare” while ignoring convictions, court filings, and recent admissions is good theater—and bad policy. Washington should listen, check the report’s claims where needed, and act to keep foreign influence out of our institutions.
