U.S. Subcommittee investigates covert influence operations by Cuba and other nations

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia held a hearing titled ‘Trojan Horses: Malign Foreign Covert Influence Operations in America’ to examine how adversary governments, including Cuba, China, Iran, and Russia, attempt to shape public opinion and weaken U.S. institutions.

During the hearing, Republican Representative Bill Huizenga stated that enemies of the United States are conducting covert operations to influence public opinion through ‘lies and censorship.’ Witness Mike Gonzalez of the Heritage Foundation testified that Havana has maintained a subversion campaign against the U.S. for nearly seven decades. Gonzalez cited recent claims from imprisoned Venezuelan military officers alleging a Cuban plan to flood U.S. streets with drugs to erode the country’s ‘moral fabric.’

Gonzalez also identified disinformation networks operating within universities, protest movements, and during election periods, specifically naming The People’s Forum as a propaganda arm of the Cuban regime.