The Trump Administration is Lying About Cuba Again
The Democratic Socialists of America condemns the indictment of former president Raúl Castro as the latest measure in its ongoing mission of imperialistic regime change in Cuba. This indictment is an obvious pretext for the invasion of the peaceful and sovereign Republic for Cuba. We condemn in the strongest possible terms any and all acts of US imperialism — be it financial, legal, or military — against Cuba. We instruct chapters to mobilize against any escalating aggression towards Cuba.
Cuba has been under the stranglehold of the illegal US economic warfare and terrorist attacks at least since 1961, beginning with the Bay of Pigs invasion. During this failed invasion, eight B-26 bombers attacked Cuban airfields, and an invasion force of CIA-trained counter-revolutionaries from Miami attempted to attack the country through Playa Girón. Cuba appropriately defended itself against this aggression, and even shot down attacking aircraft. In the decades since then the U.S. has committed over 800 terrorist attacks against Cuba with hundreds more having occurred against officials and commercial operations outside the country. Groups like Alpha 66, Omega 7, and Commandos F4 have operated freely with U.S. support.
Today, the Trump administration is preparing to resume terrorist attacks against Cuba, and is laying the foundation through lazy, half-hearted lies and deceit. Anti-Cuba, pro-interventionist US Rep. María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez are assisting in this project as the Trump regime orchestrates a legally fallacious indictment against former President Raúl Castro for appropriately defending Cuban airspace from another US incursion almost 30 years ago. This is the definition of “cry-bully” behavior, launching repeated terrorist attacks against Cuba, invading the country’s airspace, and then complaining after the fact when one of those aircraft — operated by “Brothers of the Rescue,” a terrorist organization run by CIA operative José Basulto with plainly-stated aims to illegally and violently overthrow the Cuban government — gets shot down in an act of self-defense. We categorically reject this propaganda.
DSA unilaterally condemns this blatant and pathetic attempt to erroneously “indict” a Latin American politician who defended their nation’s sovereignty instead of submitting to US imperialism. We know this playbook. This is a lazy and false pretext, meant to justify the illegal kidnapping of another left-wing political figure as was done with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilla Flores in January of this year.
Just like Venezuela, Iran, and all other illegally-sanctioned countries, the Cuban people deserve a life free from the terrorist violence of the United States government.
Long live the Cuban Revolution.
La Administración Trump vuelve a mentir sobre Cuba
Los Socialistas Democráticos de America [EE.UU] condenan la acusación contra el expresidente Raúl Castro como la última medida en su continua campaña imperialista de cambio de régimen en Cuba. Esta acusación es un pretexto evidente para invadir la República de Cuba, un país pacífico y soberano; por ello, condenamos en los términos más enérgicos posibles todos y cada uno de los actos del imperialismo estadounidense —ya sean financieros, legales o militares— contra la República de Cuba. Instamos a nuestras secciones a movilizarse contra cualquier escalada de agresión hacia Cuba.
Cuba ha estado sometida al yugo de la guerra económica ilegal de EE. UU. y a ataques terroristas al menos desde 1961, cuando comenzó con el ataque a Playa Girón. Durante esta invasión fallida, ocho bombarderos B-26 atacaron aeródromos cubanos, y una fuerza de invasión compuesta por contrarrevolucionarios entrenados por la CIA y procedentes de Miami intentó atacar el país a través de Playa Girón. Cuba se defendió adecuadamente contra esta agresión e incluso derribó aviones atacantes. En las décadas transcurridas desde entonces, EE. UU. ha cometido más de 800 ataques terroristas contra Cuba, y se han producido cientos más contra funcionarios y operaciones comerciales fuera del país. Grupos como Alpha 66, Omega 7 y los Comandos F4 han operado libremente con el apoyo de EE. UU.
Hoy en día, la administración Trump se está preparando para reanudar los ataques terroristas contra Cuba y está sentando las bases mediante mentiras, engaños perezosos y a medias. Los congresistas estadounidenses anticubanos y prointervencionistas María Elvira Salazar y Carlos Giménez están colaborando en este proyecto mientras el régimen de Trump orquesta una acusación jurídicamente falaz contra el expresidente Raúl Castro por defender adecuadamente el espacio aéreo cubano de otra incursión estadounidense hace casi 30 años. Esta es la definición de comportamiento de «matón llorón»: lanzar repetidos ataques terroristas contra Cuba, invadir el espacio aéreo del país y luego quejarse a posteriori cuando uno de esos aviones —operado por «Hermanos del Rescate» [Brothers of the Rescue], una organización terrorista dirigida por el agente de la CIA José Basulto con el objetivo claramente declarado de derrocar ilegal y violentamente al gobierno cubano— es derribado en un acto de legítima defensa. Rechazamos categóricamente esta propaganda.
DSA condena de manera unilateral este intento descarado y patético de «acusar» erróneamente a un político latinoamericano que defendió la soberanía de su nación en lugar de someterse al imperialismo estadounidense. Conocemos este guion. Se trata de un pretexto falso y poco riguroso, destinado a justificar el secuestro ilegal de otra figura política de izquierdas, tal y como se hizo con el presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro y la primera dama Cilla Flores en enero de este año.
Al igual que Venezuela, Irán y todos los demás países sancionados ilegalmente, el pueblo cubano merece una vida libre de la violencia terrorista del Gobierno de Estados Unidos.
Viva la Revolución Cubana.
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River Valley DSA demands Justice for the Negros 19
Hot DSA Electoral Wins! New Democratic Socialist in Congress — Plus State and Local Wins Across the Country
There’s a new DSA member in Congress! In Pennsylvania, Chris Rabb defeated an establishment-backed opponent and another secretly funded by AIPAC. Now Congressman Rabb will continue the fight to abolish ICE, free Palestine and win Medicare for All in the U.S. House of Representatives!
You can find out more about Congressman Rabb’s campaign here. Philly DSA, together with thousands of other working class people across Philadelphia, organized to make this win possible. That’s the DSA difference — our work is based in solid organizing in our communities, with our neighbors.
And it’s not just Pennsylvania! Here’s just some of our nationally-endorsed state and local successes:
- In Kentucky, Louisville DSA’s former co-chair Robert LeVertis Bell, a proud union teacher, will now be the first socialist in the State House! And Andrea Parr has just advanced to the runoff for Louisville Metro Council District 9. She’s fighting for budget reform, public power, and sanctuary policies protecting trans and immigrant communities!
- Georgia wins are coming in hot! Two years ago, Atlanta DSA’s Gabriel Sanchez broke ground by becoming the first Democratic Socialist elected to the Georgia General Assembly. This Tuesday, he won his race for Georgia State House District 42. And congratulations to Mathewos Samson on advancing to the general for Georgia House District 58! Mathewos will fight to make Georgia work for the working class, not the billionaires. Athens Area DSA is celebrating as well — proud DSA member Tim Denson is advancing to the runoff for Athens-Clarke Mayor.
- In Arizona, public interest lawyer Bobby Nichols just won his race for Tempe City Council At-Large! Bobby’s platform includes making Tempe affordable for everyone, building public housing, and making it easier to form a union.
- And in Oregon, Tammy Carpenter for winning her election to Oregon House District 27! Tammy will fight alongside Portland DSA to fully fund public schools, win universal healthcare and establish a Renters’ Bill of Rights.
DSA organizing goes beyond the ballot box, too. Here’s just some of our work this spring:
- This month, over 170 DSA chapters participated in May Day actions, showing our solidarity with the labor movement and the global working class in the streets, in our workplaces, in our schools, and beyond.
- From Wisconsin to Georgia, DSA chapters are standing against Big Tech’s AI and data center projects, and organizing for green projects instead!
- Chapters across the country are organizing to stop war, taking to the streets and sending tens of thousands of letters to Congress!
As the weather gets hotter, DSA members are serving up cool wins. Be a part of it!
The post Hot DSA Electoral Wins! New Democratic Socialist in Congress — Plus State and Local Wins Across the Country appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
How Portland DSA and SIOs Shaped Socialism’s Win in the Suburbs
By Dave C.- A Portland DSA Member
Socialists are the underdogs. We are constantly fighting on hostile terrain and in uphill battles. It’s easy to get lost in the play-by-play of each election, but our goal isn’t to win just a single match; it’s to take home the trophy. (That means one day wholly defeating capitalism and creating a society for the benefit of all people, not just the billionaires.) To do that, it’s the job of our socialists in office (SIOs) and our movement to construct and take advantage of moments where we can beat back the capitalist forces and their faux-gressive candidates.
Portland DSA and our SIOs helped create the conditions for Dr. Tammy Carpenter’s successful takedown of her Chamber of Commerce-backed opponent. Let’s look at some of the key pieces and events that helped shape this match-up and how we assembled the forces that could win a tough election.
Palestine Solidarity
Shortly after October 7th 2023, DSA member Rep. Farrah Chaichi became one of the first public officials in Oregon to condemn the genocide of Palestinians. Rumors started to circulate that she would face a Zionist-friendly challenger.
In January, Portland DSA worked with Intel employees to speak out against the genocide and the ways Intel was supporting it. This resulted in a massive divestment of Intel from Israel later in the year which the BDS Movement organization called “the largest BDS victory ever.” Importantly it started to prove that support for Palestine wasn’t simply a cause for the lefty super-activists in Portland but rather something a lot of people in the suburbs also cared about.
Rep. Chaichi’s opponent, a military drone salesman, suffered a brutal defeat in the May primary. Rep. Chaichi and all of the pro-Palestine incumbents won that spring, which was a crucial piece to proving that pro-Palestine people belong in Washington County leadership. Creating and defending this space for Pro-Palestine politics laid the groundwork for later actions.
Strike Solidarity
Massive strikes rolled through the Portland metro area. Portland DSA helped to shape the political nature of these strikes both through public solidarity and communications about the meaning and stake of the strikes that expanded public consciousness. 2023 saw a massive teachers’ strike in the fall. This nearly month-long strike galvanized public support and worked to shift the narrative from blaming public sector workers to focusing on the state providing more funding. Corporate actors tried desperately to quash this energy, but did not achieve their ends.
In January of 2025, workers across the state of Oregon went on strike against Providence. This strike was unparalleled in size and scale to anything Oregon had ever seen, and made waves nation-wide. Patients over Profits and Safe Staffing were key phrases that DSA helped to promote and foster. Our work to bolster class consciousness from strikes helped build an environment primed for pro-worker messaging and for the public to believe that wins were possible, a necessary foreground to both our 2024 electoral wins and creating the ground we would operate on in 2026.
Socialists in Office
There is a deep credibility crisis for elected leaders. A deep cynicism is felt widely and deeply that any elected official will actually pursue change. Our DSA City Councilors have worked to buck this cynicism and socialists (and the broad community) have reaped the rewards.
These socialists:
- Stood up for workers in union disputes not just with the city or already powerful unions but for forming ones as well like Starbucks Workers United, and New Seasons Labor Union;
- Pulled money away from an over-bloated police budget to public parks;
- Uncovered unspent funds for housing and made a plan to use them to fund Rent-Assistance, a first of its kind Social Housing Fund, and Eviction Defense;
- Banned AI Price Fixing;
- Launched a BDS Pledge and local divestment investigation; and
- Stood strong against billionaire giveaways for a sports stadium.
Even when their efforts didn’t yield a result, the public advocacy has been noticed. What people have learned in the Portland area is that when socialists say something they mean it, that socialists show up for the cause of working people across the city. This is a key part of the socialist difference. We are winning over people away from cynicism. For an electoral project to take hold, people must believe that a better world is possible and be willing to believe those who take up our banner to fight for it. Our Socialists in Office can help create fertile ground for others.
Preparing for 2026
In the run-up to our endorsements for 2026, Portland DSA became much more serious and engaged in expanding and protecting our public profile and identity. This meant extensive efforts went into cohering and promoting a socialist bloc at city hall, and seriously upgrading the focus of our public communications.
We also understood that chapter buy-in had to be built. Deep organic connections are required to have leaders and systems ready for a strong DSA-centric campaign. Farrah Chaichi’s campaign helped raise our profile in Washington County. The organizing of Justin and Karin S around school issues in the Beaverton School District along with the revival of the washington county branch (now referred to as Tualatin Valley branch) were important to cultivating our presence in the area.
Our chapter had developed a sense for both opportunity and danger after the May 2025 school board elections both struck hard. Tammy Carpenter, a DSA member and school board director on the Beaverton School Board had organized a pro-labor slate in the recent elections. Only one of the pro-labor candidates won. Zionists outraged by Tammy’s advocacy and emboldened by the election results worked to cook up an investigation into Tammy’s pro-palestine and anti-genocide social media presence. You can read more about this here.
The upshot Portland DSA united around Palestine and Tammy with a large rally helping to create chapter buy-in around Tammy’s campaign and build her presence and legitimacy further in the community. This moment, though not final or definitive, was a serious point of preparation for Tammy’s endorsement later in the year. Also relevant Tammy’s ongoing and purposeful connection to the chapter throughout her time on the school board.
By the time we were ready to endorse, we already knew Tammy would be a bold voice for justice, for socialism and a credit to everyone who worked with her.
Tammy recruited DSA members to her Kitchen Cabinet and hired a DSA member as campaign manager. Tammy had both organic connections and a strong group of advisors to help her formulate her campaign, her platform and her connection to DSA. She was the first ever to seek and get a Cadre Endorsement from Portland DSA. Unlike any other campaign we were simply the whole shebang for a significant period.
This race was always going to be difficult. The establishment had a real favorite in city councilor Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg, a Chamber of Commerce darling, and one of the best faux-gressives out there. Ashley secured endorsements of nearly every democratic incumbent early and her kick-off party was a veritable directory of insiders and lobbyists. We knew we needed an incredible field game and a strong focus on differentiating ourselves from the squishy language of progressives. We needed a socialist champion. Dr. Tammy Carpenter stepped into the ring.
Playing Our Hand
DSA and Tammy together built such a strong field program with incredibly clear and bold messaging. We quickly garnered attention from potential endorsers as the most legitimate campaign with a connection to voters. Endorsers understood the campaign had DSA at the core. We kept strong messaging and democratic socialist ID throughout the campaign. We knocked over 10,000 doors in the early part of our campaign eclipsing any other field effort in the state and racked up 35,000 over the course of the campaign. It was a struggle to get our coalition partners and even our media consultants to understand the importance of using the words democratic socialism. It’s clear that we would have benefited from a socialist media team, and that our constant and impressive field presence was crucial to showing that Democratic Socialism wasn’t a fringe word but a key part of running this winning campaign.
As the campaign progressed it became clear that a major local issue was shaping public sentiment: Data Centers. Socialists in office and candidates across the state were weighing in against and this naturally fit our basic mantra: Tax The Rich.
As reports of layoffs and funding deficits have rocked the public as well as many people’s personal lives, the idea of tax giveaways to Amazon and other large tech companies for data center building grew a substantial grass roots resistance. The only working champions of such ideas were the building trades whose members hoped to get work from the construction of those facilities. Dr. Tammy Carpenter helped to champion a local moratorium petition on data centers, and kept socialist messaging about who should pay for public goods at the center. KGW interviewed candidates opposing data centers and then mysteriously canceled airing it, this just served to make people even more interested in hearing what Dr. Tammy Carpenter had to say. (Read more about data centrism here)
As the race started to reach the end, our opponents made blunder after blunder, supporting deeply unpopular policies. Tammy’s opponent even sent out texts describing DSA as “too extreme” and fear mongering that we were going to take away peoples’ homes. The icing on the cake of this moment is that socialism was supposed to be the bogey man that our opponents wielded against working class candidates. It now appears to have had the opposite effect. The chamber of commerce used some sneaky polling that actually gave DSA credit for multiple other candidates running insurgent races. Whatever happens next it’s clear there is no excuse for hiding socialism in the closet, it’s actually a benefit to credibility and popularity to be a real out and loud socialist!
Preparing for our next Match
We are sitting in an incredible position in the Portland Metro area. Many of our incumbents are likely to win in their next personal match-ups, but when we are building a movement, it is insufficient to rest on the laurels of a few elected socialists. We must shape the ground for the next match-up where scrappy socialists can take on political machines by preparing people to fight for not just bread, but roses too.
