The article argues that Cuba is central to the Trump administration’s campaign against what it calls “third worldism”, drawing on a 100-page State Department report that describes Havana as a continuing threat to US interests. It matters because the report frames Cuba not merely as an economically weakened communist state, but as an organiser of anti-Western political influence, intelligence activity and militant networks.

According to the report and the article’s author, Cuba historically supported revolutionary groups in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and maintained links with some US radical organisations. It also alleges that Cuba provides a route for Chinese, Russian, Iranian and North Korean influence in the Western Hemisphere; these claims underpin the administration’s tougher approach, though the article presents them from a strongly critical perspective on Cuba and the political left.