“Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” released by the U.S. Department of State on July 20, 2026, is a monumental distortion of history. The same government that recently threatened to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age, backs genocide in Gaza, and put militarized thugs on the streets to terrorize its own population labels Cuba the “Espionage Empire,” the global center of a new “red menace.” Under that rationale, it lays the groundwork for escalating government repression — reminiscent of McCarthyism during the Cold War — against perceived “domestic enemies,” in essence, targeting anyone who speaks out against U.S. policy. This is the first of two parts.