标签： Dominica

In a sharp rebuke of a provocative new report released by the U.S. State Department on July 20, 2026, Cuba’s top government officials have launched a full-throated rejection of the document’s unsubstantiated claims that paint the Caribbean nation as a hostile spy and ideological power targeting the United States.

The 99-page U.S. report frames Cuba as the “capital of 21st century communism”, and repeats the baseless accusation that Havana has run a 70-plus-year campaign of espionage, political infiltration and ideological influence across the U.S., even going so far as to link domestic American progressive movements including the Black Panthers and Antifa to an alleged Cuban influence network.

Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official statement the following day, dismissing the publication as nothing more than a “mediocre propaganda pamphlet” crafted to manufacture a false narrative of Cuban threat. The ministry argued that the entire report is designed to justify Washington’s decades-old economic embargo against Cuba — a measure Cuban officials describe as collective punishment and genocide against the Cuban people — and clear the way for potential future military aggression against the sovereign island nation.

The foreign ministry called out stark U.S. hypocrisy in the accusations, noting that the U.S. government annually diverts tens of millions of dollars in federal funds to efforts aimed at destabilizing Cuba’s internal order, provoking economic hardship and ousting Cuba’s elected government. It pointed to Washington’s long and well-documented history of violating international law: extrajudicial killings in international waters, targeted political assassinations, sponsorship of genocidal campaigns, military invasions of sovereign states across every continent, and routine interference in the domestic electoral processes of other nations.

Cuba’s officials also pushed back against the long-running U.S. labeling of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, emphasizing that no evidence — even minimal evidence — exists to back up this false claim, a fact acknowledged even by specialized U.S. intelligence agencies. In contrast, they noted, individuals who finance, organize and carry out violent terrorist attacks against Cuba have long operated with full protection and legal impunity on U.S. territory.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez echoed these criticisms, doubling down on the rejection of the report. He noted that the U.S. itself has spent decades carrying out extensive espionage and overtly hostile actions against Cuba, including the ongoing economic blockade and dozens of covert operations. Díaz-Canel pointed to a long record of criminal U.S. actions against Cuban civilians: the intentional introduction of crop pests and diseases, the 1981 dengue hemorrhagic fever outbreak that killed 101 Cuban children, the bombing of a Cuban civilian airliner that killed all 73 people on board, multiple hotel bombings, dozens of assassination attempts against Cuban leaders, and sustained psychological warfare campaigns.

Dí-Canel called the latest U.S. report a core component of a rising wave of “neo-McCarthyism” that the U.S. is pushing both domestically and globally. This new ideological crackdown, he explained, is aimed at suppressing progressive political movements, intimidating activists who show solidarity with Cuba, and rolling back civil liberties for American citizens. The Cuban president emphasized that growing opposition to the U.S. embargo and its devastating harm to the Cuban economy — even among Cuban-American communities and their descendants in the U.S. — has pushed the Biden administration to manufacture this false narrative to stifle dissent.

“Every thief thinks everyone else is like them,” Díaz-Canel said, summing up his view of the report. He added that the report’s accusations reveal the deep-seated fear of a nuclear superpower toward Cuba’s example of sovereignty and social justice that prioritizes the needs of ordinary people over elite interests, exposing an underlying inferiority complex toward Cuba’s independent national project.

Díaz-Canel reiterated that Cuba has never taken any action to harm the American people or threaten U.S. national security. He confirmed that Cuba will continue to pursue friendly people-to-people and institutional ties with the United States, in full compliance with international law, the United Nations Charter and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Three years of behind-the-scenes preparation is coming to a public head for Team Unity Dominica (TUD), one of the rising political players in the Caribbean island nation, as the party prepares to officially introduce its slate of candidates for the upcoming general election at a scheduled press conference next week.

The official announcement of nominees will take place starting at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, hosted at the Fort Young Hotel in Dominica, according to a formal press statement circulated by the party. For more than three years, TUD has been building its team and refining its political approach ahead of the electoral contest, and organizers say the moment has finally come to step into the public electoral space.

“At Wednesday’s event, you will meet and hear from members who have been engaged with their respective communities in several ways,” the party explained in its release. All candidates set to be named next week have lived and worked directly alongside their local constituents for no less than one year, embedding themselves in community issues before launching their electoral bids. Beyond on-the-ground community engagement, each nominee has completed a structured, comprehensive preparation training program designed to equip them with the tools needed to serve effectively if elected.

What sets TUD’s candidate slate apart, the party argues, is its core mission to shift Dominica’s existing political discourse toward a new, more collaborative direction. While party leaders acknowledge they cannot overhaul the country’s entire political system overnight, they are firm in their stance that the long-standing status quo of Dominican politics has run its course. It is this ethos that inspired the party’s official 2027 general election campaign slogan: “Clean Slate”.

TUD clarifies that the “Clean Slate” framework does not require all of its candidates to be complete political newcomers. Instead, the slogan represents a break from old, divisive political practices, requiring all TUD nominees to adhere to the party’s new approach to governance, regardless of their prior political experience.

Next week’s press conference will also break from traditional political event norms, the party says. The gathering will be structured to prioritize open, respectful dialogue between party members and attendees, embodying the collaborative political culture TUD aims to bring to Dominican governance. Attendees will have the opportunity to speak directly with TUD leadership and the newly introduced candidates, marking a new model of political engagement for the movement.

As campaigning enters the final stretch ahead of the upcoming Roseau North constituency by-election, a leading Dominican business and civic organization is stepping up efforts to boost democratic engagement by bringing all declared candidates together for a public, moderated policy discussion.

Dominica Business Forum Inc. announced this week that the event will take place on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at 7:00 PM at the Fond Cole Community Centre. This forum forms a core part of the organization’s longstanding commitment to voter education, cross-stakeholder dialogue, and increased public participation in the island nation’s electoral processes.

Formal invitations have already been dispatched to all candidates who have publicly confirmed their candidacy for the by-election, the organization confirmed. Three candidates have been publicly identified so far: Ashma McDougall running for the Labour Party, Edline Harris representing the United Progressive Party, and Daniel Lugay of the United Workers Party.

During the open public event, candidates will get dedicated space to lay out their policy priorities for the constituency, exchange perspectives on key local and national issues, and directly respond to questions from community members. The discussion will be steered by two experienced professional journalists: Kaywana Fontaine-Wilson and Matthias Peltier Jr., who will ensure structured, respectful interaction between candidates and audience members, per the Forum’s official press statement.

The organization emphasized that the forum is designed to deliver tangible value to Roseau North voters and the Dominican public at large. By creating a dedicated space for open, fact-based and constructive conversation ahead of the vote, the event aims to help constituents make more informed choices at the ballot box.

This is not the first time the Dominica Business Forum has led democratic engagement initiatives on electoral issues. The organization has a proven track record of convening critical national conversations on governance and electoral reform: it previously hosted high-profile national consultations on electoral reform led by Sir Dennis Byron, collaborated with the Dominican government and civil society groups to shape discussions on updated electoral legislation, and most recently organized a public forum featuring the island’s Chief Elections Officer.

Building on this extensive experience, the Forum reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to fostering opportunities for respectful, productive dialogue across the political spectrum, while working to expand public understanding of and participation in Dominica’s democratic institutions.

Any candidate that has not yet received an invitation but wishes to take part in the July 29 discussion is invited to reach out to the Forum directly via WhatsApp at 615-6924 or by email at info@dominicabusinessforum.dm to register their interest.