The United States Senate has launched a formal investigation against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), one of the largest industrial unions in North America, for its alleged connections to the Cuban regime, according to reported by Fox News Politics.
Senator Bill Cassidy (Republican from Louisiana), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, sent a formal letter to the IAM demanding full accountability regarding its relations with Havana, accusing the organization of "colluding with the murderous Cuban regime" and forcing its workers to fund "anti-American propaganda" with their union dues.
The union comprises about 600,000 workers in the aerospace, manufacturing, and transportation sectors, making it one of the most influential in the country.
The catalyst for the investigation was an event held on May 9 at Machinists Hall, a IAM venue in California, organized by the "U.S. Hands Off Cuba" campaign.
In that event, David Ramírez Álvarez, the second secretary of the Cuban Embassy in Washington, spoke. According to sources familiar with the matter, he instructed organizational leaders about which legislation the Cuban government supported and how to oppose U.S. policy towards the island.
A leader from the IAM present at the event stated to the attendees: "Our job now is to defend Cuba in any way we can."
That same leader later succeeded in having the AFL-CIO of California adopt a resolution calling for the removal of Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Ramírez Álvarez has drawn the attention of U.S. officials for allegedly coordinating a network of influence within the country, according to the same sources.
Cassidy demands that the IAM identify all members and leaders who participated in advocacy activities related to Cuba, clarify whether they consulted with regime officials, and reveal if the union made or received payments related to Havana.
The senator stated that workers should not be compelled to finance activities that promote "the foreign policy objectives of a hostile foreign power."
The investigation into the IAM is part of a broader offensive by the Trump administration against Cuban influence on U.S. soil, which has intensified throughout 2026.
In July, the Department of State published a 100-page report titled "Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism", which claims that Havana has built a network of contacts over decades in unions, media, and activist groups in the U.S. to pressure for the lifting of the embargo and the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice and the Treasury are investigating 145 pro-Cuba organizations with combined revenues of approximately 1 billion dollars annually for potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The IAM has not publicly responded to Senator Cassidy's demands, while the 2026 midterm election cycle amplifies the political debate about socialism in the United States and gives greater resonance to these investigations.
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