Far-left activist groups and personalities flocked to Havana, Cuba, this week in an effort to protest the economic sanctions imposed on the country by President Donald Trump‘s administration.
The far-left group CodePink sponsored flights to the communist-led island, and the group was joined by Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, an ally of democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The group has faced heavy backlash for staying in expensive hotels to meet with government officials even as Cuban residents go without electricity.
Trump imposed an oil blockade on Cuba earlier this year after the U.S. captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Some delegates in the “Nuestra America Convoy,” including Piker, were staying at the 5-star Gran Hotel Bristol Meliá Collection and similar resorts. Piker defended the move on social media, saying U.S. law required that they stay at the ritzy hotels.
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“The American government makes it illegal for Americans to stay wherever they want when they’re in Cuba,” Piker told his followers. “They have to stay in what they’ve declared as 5-star hotels.”
The claim received swift pushback on social media, with an X Community Note saying that U.S. law only prevents Americans from staying at venues owned by the Cuban government or its officials.
CodePink says it delivered thousands of pounds of aid to Cuba as part of the trip, which was organized by Cuban politician Mariela Castro and a nonprofit called Progressive International, according to the New York Post.
The group’s arrival to Cuba, and subsequent flood of social media videos, came the same weekend that The Cuban Electric Union announced a total blackout across the island on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, made comments about the island, saying “they have to get new people in charge” in Havana.
Meanwhile, Pentagon officials told lawmakers there are no plans to invade Cuba, even as they described it as a long-standing security concern.
Cuban officials have continued to blame U.S. sanctions for the country’s economic hardships, while analysts say the government is facing mounting pressure from ongoing blackouts, shortages of basic goods and growing public frustration.
Fox News’ Amy Galo contributed to this report.
