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The state assembly member from Queens and current favorite for the New York City mayoralty, Zohran Mamdani, was seen smiling alongside a delegation from the Cuban communist regime during a visit to Albany in 2024.
The image, shared by state senator Jabari Brisport and now republished by the New York Post, shows the candidate posing with Cuban officials at the United Nations during an event organized by Democratic socialist legislators from New York.
Brisport held the meeting on social media, stating it was “an honor” to welcome the representatives of the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel and urged to “end the U.S. blockade against Cuba,” a position that Mamdani openly shares.
The politician of Ugandan origin, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), has advocated for the lifting of sanctions on the island while expressing criticism of the dictatorships in Venezuela and Cuba.
However, the photo has sparked controversy. The Republican congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, daughter of a Cuban exile, described the candidate's gesture as "offensive."
"It is not surprising that Mamdani is pleased to receive the emissaries of a regime that confiscated properties and imprisoned dissidents," he said. "The socialist policies he promotes only bring poverty and repression."
The diplomat appearing alongside Mamdani in the image is Yuri Ariel Gala López, the current representative of the Cuban regime to the United Nations.
Gala López has been one of the most active spokespersons from Havana in the international forum, dedicated to justifying the policies of the Díaz-Canel regime and promoting the official narrative of Castroism.
In his statements, he has repeatedly accused the United States of being responsible for the economic and humanitarian crisis in Cuba, while avoiding mentioning political repression, censorship, and the lack of freedoms on the island.
From her position at the UN, Gala López has defended the regime's sovereignty against international allegations of human rights violations and has criticized global oversight mechanisms that demand transparency and democracy in Cuba.
Her presence at the meeting with New York lawmakers reinforces the goal of the Cuban diplomatic apparatus to garner support among sectors of the American left and weaken backing for the embargo, a strategy that the Castro regime has employed for decades to maintain its political and economic control.
The trip to Albany was part of a series of meetings between leftist lawmakers and Cuban diplomats, who obtained special permission to leave the 25-mile perimeter that typically restricts their movement outside the UN.
At the same time, a delegation of over 40 members of the DSA traveled to Cuba in 2024 to express their solidarity with the communist government, criticizing the U.S. embargo and praising the "resilience of the Cuban people."
As the controversy grows, Mamdani tries to maintain his progressive discourse focused on workers, but the images alongside officials from the regime in Havana could take a toll on him in a city marked by its exiled Cuban community.
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