Activists from CODEPINK: Women for Peace staged a protest outside the Department of State in Washington D.C. by throwing a copy of the government report 'Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism' into a trash bin, in a gesture that ironically illustrates the freedom of expression that exists in the United States.
The 100-page report, published on July 20 and disseminated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, claims that the Cuban regime has built a network of espionage, infiltration, and propaganda over more than six decades to weaken the United States from within, and names CODEPINK among the organizations linked to that influence.
"We have a copy of that terrible 100-page report that the State Department published about Cuba, basically stating that Cuba is responsible for all the problems here in the United States and around the world. So we are going to put this report exactly where it belongs: in the trash," stated the co-founder of the organization, Medea Benjamin, in the video released by the organization itself.
The activist equated the document with the U.S. embargo and established a parallel typical of the propaganda used by supporters of the Havana regime: "Just like the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Into the trash."
Along with the symbolic action, CODEPINK announced the delivery of a petition signed by thousands of people addressed to Rubio, demanding the lifting of the embargo. "It says the same thing: throw the report on Cuba in the trash and lift the blockade," the activist explained in the video.
The scene raises an uncomfortable question for the regime and its supporters: what would happen if a group of Cuban citizens made a similar gesture in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the headquarters of the Communist Party in Havana?
The answer is well-known: immediate arrests, charges of "disrespect" or "enemy propaganda," and very likely, imprisonment. In the United States, the activists filmed the action, posted it on social media, and continued on their way.
The contrast is particularly striking given CODEPINK's history with the Cuban regime.
In March 2026, the organization called the "Convoy Nuestra América" organized an event with about 100 participants and a charter flight from Miami, delivering 6,300 pounds of medicines valued at $433,000 directly to the Cuban government.
Due to that action, the Department of the Treasury (OFAC) opened an investigation for potential sanctions violations against Benjamin and the streamer Hasan Piker.
The report from the State Department also identifies ICAP —Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos— as the central coordination hub between the regime and foreign solidarity organizations.
Benjamin described the document as “an incredible piece of garbage” on the program Democracy Now! on July 28, while the organization publicly referred to it as “a 99-page conspiracy theory” with “imaginary and fabricated links to foreign governments.”
Rubio, while presenting the report, described Cuba as “the main sponsor of radical leftism and third-worldism” in the United States, and the document links the regime to organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America, the National Lawyers Guild, the Venceremos Brigade, and The People's Forum, in addition to historical connections with the Black Panthers, the Weather Underground, and the Puerto Rican FALN.
The activist featured in the video acknowledged, however, that the situation in Cuba is "catastrophic": "Every day I receive reports from Cuba that the situation is worse, worse, and worse. It's catastrophic," she stated, without attributing this reality to the seven decades of communist dictatorship that have caused it.
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