US authorities summon streamer Hasan Piker and Susan Medea Benjamin over their trips to Cuba
14ymedio, Madrid, May 24, 2026 — A total of 145 organizations established in the United States have been identified by Fox News as part of the network of influence that Donald Trump’s Administration suspects the Government of Havana has built on U.S. territory. The network reported this in a feature story on Saturday, announced as part of a series dedicated to the subject.
As part of the investigation, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has cited Marxist influencer Hasan Piker and CodePink co-founder Susan Medea Benjamin, who traveled to Cuba last March to deliver humanitarian aid as part of the Our America Convoy .
Fox News also reports that the activities of Olivia DiNucci, CodePink’s Washington, D.C., coordinator, are being examined. The network states that 40 other Americans are under investigation by federal authorities for allegedly coordinating with Cuban regime officials to transport goods and supplies to the island in convoys and flotillas.
“A coordinated rapid response network was already being mobilized across the United States to defend Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba.”
The lengthy Fox News report focuses on the analysis of numerous messages issued in response to the formal indictment against former Cuban president Raúl Castro for the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes last Wednesday. Just nine minutes after the news became public, Fox News states, “a coordinated rapid-response network was already mobilizing across the United States to defend Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba.”
Some of the slogans were: “Baseless indictment against Raúl Castro,” “A pretext for another war,” “We will not hand over Raúl,” or “Cuba is not a threat to the world. The United States is a threat to the world. The world supports Raúl Castro, hero of the Cuban Revolution. The world turns its back on Donald Trump, clown of human destruction.” This last message, the news channel notes, was shared by Manolo de los Santos, executive director of The People’s Forum, a New York-based NGO, and by leaders of CodePink.
Both organizations, according to another investigation carried out by Fox News last March, are part of an international leftist network financed largely by Shanghai-based American tech businessman and supporter of the Chinese regime Neville Roy Singham. Other groups within the network include Answer Coalition, Liberation News and Party for Socialism and Liberation, International People’s Assembly, Venceremos Brigade, Hatuey Project, BreakThrough News, Tricontinental Institute, IFCO, and Pastors for Peace.
Aside from the Singham network, Fox News names six more structures within the “ecosystem” of support for Cuba: unions such as United Union of Roofers or Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 36, aid brigades and delegations such as Global Exchange or the Convoy Nuestra América, Marxist organizations such as the Communist Party USA or the African People’s Socialist Party, media outlets such as BT News or Liberation News, academic and professional networks such as the National Lawyers Guild, and humanitarian and infrastructure aid campaigns such as Global Health Partners.
In total, the network identifies 145 groups, including NGOs, unions, and other activists, whose annual revenues reach one billion dollars.
For Homeland Security officials investigating the influence of foreign governments on U.S. territory, this kind of “rapid response” campaign is evidence of Havana’s influence, disguised as “solidarity” with the Island.
“It is neither extraordinary nor a violation of any international or U.S. law for Cuban diplomats to interact with civil society”
Asked about the matter, the Cuban Embassy in Washington denied any improper activity to Fox News and, through a spokesperson, stated that “Cuban diplomats strictly comply with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” whose Article 41 establishes that diplomats have the duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of a State.
The spokesperson also stated that “part of diplomatic work” consists of “promoting friendly relations” and “interacting with organizations and institutions of civil society in the State to which they are accredited.” The Cuban mission continued: “It is neither extraordinary nor a violation of any international or U.S. law for Cuban diplomats to interact with civil society,” concluding that this “does not encourage Americans to overthrow or act against the constitutional order of the United States.”
Sources close to the government investigation told Fox News that they are examining the activities of several prominent activists and organizers linked to the Cuba solidarity movement, including Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, CodePink cofounder Medea Benjamin, and CodePink coordinator in Washington D.C., Olivia DiNucci. Likewise, they are investigating another 40 Americans who allegedly coordinated with Cuban Government officials to bring goods and supplies to the Island in “convoys” and “flotillas” earlier this year.
This past Saturday, the Cuban official press echoed the “denunciations” made by CodePink — one of the organizations in the “Singham network” — and Democratic Party senators against Donald Trump’s Government over the increasing pressure on the Island. “We must stop this madness. Cubans, and not politicians in Washington nor hardline fanatics in Miami, should decide Cuba’s future,” was one of the CodePink messages circulated by several state media outlets, which praised the civil organization for warning “about the danger of a new war” and demanding “an end to the unilateral coercive measures that threaten the sovereignty and living conditions of the Cuban people.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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