The topic of Cuba is arguably the most propagandized subject in the United States, with little exception, aside from US-funded media outlets, influencers, and journalists claiming to be in Cuba. Many platforms like Radio Martí, which was created in 1985, and more modern media outlets like El Toque, CubaDecide, CubaNet, and others were created with the intent of spreading anti-Cuban propaganda. What Republicans recently referred to as state-run media, which, for all intents and purposes, they’re not wrong about.
Organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the US Department of State, the Organization of American States (OAS), and various other groups have been implicated in efforts to overthrow governments. Recently, a House subcommittee hearing brought these organizations to the forefront again after evidence of meddling in Honduras’ 2025 presidential election.
The witnesses at the hearing were former ambassador to the OAS, Carlos Trujillo, who was involved in fomenting a coup in Bolivia in 2019, and the Regional Director, Latin America and the Caribbean Programs, National Democratic Institute (NDI), Deborah Ullmer. NDI, which operates under the NED, has been involved in coup attempts in Venezuela and in undermining Venezuela’s government. Enrique Roig, Vice President of External Affairs at Human Rights First, also attended the hearing. HRF is funded through foundations and donors.
Even USAID was implicated in using an AIDS outreach campaign in Cuba to foment discontent with the sole purpose of creating an anti-government uprising. This came just after the agency created “Cuba Twitter” in 2014 (ZunZuneo), a group of accounts that are part of a network created in Spain meant to flood the social media ecosystem with propaganda. Similar propaganda programs targeting many countries and using aid as a weapon to achieve US corporate interests have existed for decades.
For the last six decades, Cuba has served as a test bed for these practices.
Recently, a new feature on X (formerly Twitter) exposed people’s country locations. The “About this account” feature shed light on many pro-MAGA accounts as being located in foreign countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. Some accounts boasted hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of followers and were prominent pro-Trump voices on the platform. Now, many have suddenly disappeared while others remain.
Similarly, an analysis of “influencers” and journalists who claimed to be speaking from the ground, from their first-hand experiences, and from the experiences of their fellow Cubans, exposes that many of those accounts are operating out of the United States, Spain, Mexico, and other countries. That their accounts suddenly became relevant around the same time as the advent of Cuba Twitter isn’t a coincidence, as their locations also represent the vast network USAID poured over $100 million into.
Personally, Luz Escobar, whom I once had a ton of respect for based on the premise that she was in Cuba and represented an alternate voice to what we hear when we talk to Cubans, was the most disappointing. Her account has not been located in “Havana/Cuba” as it once said, she has been located in Spain. Rather than address the revelation about her location, she simply changed her profile to say “exiled to Spain,” but her location on her profile still says Cuba.
What piqued my interest about Escobar’s story initially was when the Cuban government allegedly did not allow her to leave her home in 2020. While not formally exiled, she left Cuba in 2022 but still purported to be on the island. Anyone unfamiliar with her story could easily be duped into thinking they are listening to someone reporting from the ground. However, she has been reporting second-hand information that is often seen across the so-called “Cuban media” ecosystem. In other words, spreading US-sanctioned propaganda.
The outlet Escobar works for, 14 y medio, also claims to be in La Habana, Cuba, but its “About this account” page says it is in the United States. The outlet has not corrected this in its profile. Another outlet, El Toque, which claimed to be in Cuba but is based in Spain, now lists its profile as in Mexico, Spain, Miami, and, of course, Havana. CiberCuba claims to be in Cuba, but is also based out of Spain and is one of many outlets that echo each other to flood social media with state-sanctioned narratives funded by the US. CiberCuba continues to claim it is operating out of Cuba.
CubaNet, which is based in Miami, receives funding directly from USAID. 14 y medio, in Spain receives funding from various sources, such as foundations, donors, and speaking events, but it also receives funding from the Bacardi Foundation, which receives money from the NED. Similarly, El Toque receives funding from various sources but is also partially funded by the NED. Of course, Radio Marti, the first of such media outlets that drive propaganda, has been funded by the US government since its inception decades ago (over $800 million as of 2018).
One does not have to look too far back in history to see the impacts of these groups. The protests that occurred in Cuba on July 11, 2021, which were billed as an uprising against the government, were originally meant to ask the international community for help after the US blocked Cuba and Venezuela from receiving medical equipment or COVID-19 vaccines. The initial call for a protest asked to keep politics out of the messaging.
It didn’t take long for these media outlets to weaponize their millions of followers across social media to shift the narrative to anti-government protests. Many Cuban Americans in the US were calling for a violent overthrow of the government, which was then echoed by these vast networks, exploding into violence. I was covering the initial protests at the time and watched the shift in real time, forcing me to write a completely different story to highlight the turn.
With dozens of media outlets and influencers being exposed over the last two weeks as being located outside of Cuba while working independently or through a media outlet funded by the US government, it behooves everyone to doubt what they see and hear about Cuba from media based outside of Cuba. Among the most reliable is Belly of the Beast, part of my cohort, who take the time to actually talk to Cubans on the island about issues that matter and bring you their stories, not hyperbolic propaganda.
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