FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FHRC Urges U.S. Review of Alleged Cuban Narco-Terror Intelligence Operations
Miami, FL — December 4, 2025 — The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FHRC) expresses grave concern over recent public allegations by former Venezuelan military intelligence chief Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal about the Cuban regime’s alleged operational role in sustaining authoritarian rule and transnational criminal activity in the Western Hemisphere. Though not yet adjudicated, FHRC believes these claims demand immediate, serious review by U.S. authorities.
According to published reports, Carvajal alleges that Cuba is the central architect of the Chávez–Maduro system, operating through embedded intelligence control in Venezuela and beyond. He claims Havana directs regime survival strategy, helps run repression from inside the state, and oversees illicit networks that fund and protect the dictatorship. Carvajal also alleges that Cuba maintains long-running espionage and influence operations inside the United States—deploying thousands of personnel over decades to shape Cuba- and Venezuela-related policy and shield both regimes. History shows this capability is real: cases like Ana Belén Montes, a senior DIA analyst, and Manuel Rocha, a former U.S. ambassador—both convicted of spying for Cuba—demonstrate Havana’s reach into U.S. institutions.
Carvajal further contends that Cuba drives a transnational authoritarian–criminal alliance, promoting narcotrafficking as a weapon against the United States and coordinating repression with regional proxies and illicit actors. FHRC stresses that these accusations—whether ultimately proven fully or in part—align with a long-documented pattern of Havana exporting surveillance, coercion, and political control through client regimes.
FHRC calls on the U.S. government to respond with clarity and urgency, including strengthened counterintelligence and anti-corruption measures and an integrated approach to the authoritarian alliance centered on Havana.
FHRC urges:
- A full U.S. investigation into Carvajal’s allegations, including any narco-terror and intelligence-criminal networks linked to Havana.
- One integrated U.S. strategy for Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua that treats Havana as the hub of a narco-terror axis.
- Expanded support for Cuban civil society and regional democrats to dismantle the regime-backed narco-terror machine fueling repression and instability.
FHRC stands with the Cuban people and all victims of dictatorship in the hemisphere and continues documenting abuses tied to Cuban state activity—inside Cuba and abroad—including political repression, forced labor, and the regime’s collaboration with destabilizing criminal networks.