Cuba’s economic freefall is hiding a national security threat just miles from Florida: report

A new report warns that Cuba’s relationships with Russia, China and Iran could provide America’s adversaries with a strategic foothold just 90 miles from Florida, arguing that the island’s deepening economic crisis does not necessarily make it less dangerous to the United States. The America First Policy Institute report, The Dictatorship Next Door: Cuba and the Fight for the Western Hemisphere, argues that Washington has too often viewed Cuba primarily as a human rights, migration or economic problem while overlooking the national security implications of Havana’s relationships with U.S. adversaries. The report says those partnerships create opportunities for intelligence collection, military cooperation, cyber operations and political influence close to the U.S. homeland.

"Cuba is a massive national security threat to the U.S.," report author Melissa Ford Maldonado, director of AFPI’s Western Hemisphere Initiative, told Fox News Digital in an interview ahead of the report’s release. RUBIO WARNS CUBA HAS INFILTRATED US WITH SPIES, CALLS COMMUNIST REGIME AN 'ESPIONAGE SUPERPOWER' "They are a hostile communist regime that is only 90 miles from Florida," Ford Maldonado said, arguing that Cuba has a decades-long history of working against American interests and supporting U.S. adversaries. The report’s most concrete current concern centers on China and suspected intelligence facilities on the island.

A June 18, 2026, analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found continued activity at Cuban sites capable of supporting signals intelligence collection. CSIS said it had previously identified four such sites, several with possible links to China. Ford Maldonado said she believes the broader evidence of Chinese intelligence activity on Cuba is compelling.

"There is a lot of credible evidence that there are Chinese bases and that there is spying going on in Cuba," she said, claiming that China has taken advantage of Cuba’s geographic position to monitor U.S. activity. CUBA BUILT COVERT NETWORK INSIDE AMERICA THROUGH SPIES, ACTIVISTS AND UNIVERSITIES, STATE DEPT ALLEGES Russia’s relationship with Havana is older and more extensive. Ford Maldonado described Moscow and Havana as increasingly "intimate, reliable partners," pointing to diplomatic and military cooperation as well as Cuban nationals joining Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

The number of Cubans fighting for Russia is contested. State Department cable obtained by on Oct. 5, 2025 estimated that 1,000 to 5,000 Cubans were fighting in Ukraine alongside Russian forces. reported that Ukrainian officials had also raised concerns with U.S. lawmakers about Russia’s recruitment of Cuban nationals. Cuba has denied sending troops to Ukraine.

In an Oct. 11 statement reported by , the Cuban Foreign Ministry said Cuba was not participating in the conflict with military personnel and said it had prosecuted Cubans for mercenary activity. Havana said 40 defendants had faced criminal proceedings between 2023 and 2025, with 26 convicted. Ukraine nevertheless closed its embassy in Havana in October 2025 and downgraded relations, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accusing Cuban authorities of failing to act against what Kyiv described as large-scale Russian recruitment of Cuban citizens, according to The Kyiv Independent.