On July 16, 2026, senior federal officials addressed an international ministerial on what they called the “resurgence of political terrorism.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described a coordinated government effort to identify, disrupt, investigate, defund, and prosecute far-left political violence and its alleged support networks. 

Four days later, the State Department published “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” a report placing named American individuals and organizations within a broader narrative of Cuban influence and political subversion. 

Political violence may lawfully be investigated and prosecuted regardless of ideology. The constitutional concern begins when criminal conduct, political belief, lawful association, labor organizing, journalism, protest, travel, or advocacy are blurred together.

The First Amendment protects speech, political association, journalism, organizing, protest, and advocacy, subject to narrow exceptions such as true threats, criminal conspiracy, material support, and intentional incitement likely to produce imminent unlawful action.

The Fourth and Fifth Amendments also matter. Investigations, searches, seizures, watchlisting, financial restrictions, and governmental penalties require lawful standards and due process. Constitutional rights do not disappear because an official considers a person radical, dishonest, immoral, abnormal, or politically dangerous.

The central question is therefore not whether left-wing violence exists. It does. The question is whether the government is distinguishing actual unlawful conduct from protected political identity and association.

 

Submitted to: U.S. Department of State, Office of Information Programs and Services

Submitted by: Appalachian Juju Public Initiative

Requester category: News media

Method: Email

Personal contact and portal-security information have been removed from this public copy.

 

⸻

 

To the Office of Information Programs and Services:

 

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, I request the records described below concerning the Department of State report titled “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” published on July 20, 2026.

 

I attempted to register and submit this request through the Department’s Public Access Link portal, but the portal’s security service blocked the attempt. I therefore submitted the request through the Department’s authorized FOIA email address.

 

Date range

 

January 20, 2025, through the date the Department conducts its search.

 

Records requested

 

1. Authorship and approval

 

Records sufficient to identify the report’s authors, principal researchers, editors, fact-checkers, contributing Department offices, contractors or consultants, reviewing officials, and officials who approved its publication.

 

2. Drafting, review, and clearance

 

The final prepublication draft and any substantially different draft, including substantive tracked changes, comments, evidentiary-review records, fact-checking records, legal or policy clearance records, objections, requested corrections, dissenting comments, and final approval records.

 

3. Evidentiary basis

 

Records showing the evidentiary basis for the report’s inclusion, description, or characterization of:

 

• Chris Smalls;

• the Amazon Labor Union;

• the Democratic Socialists of America or DSA; and

• any alleged relationship involving those persons or organizations and the Cuban government, Cuban governmental entities, or Cuban-affiliated organizations.

 

Responsive records include source lists, research memoranda, evidentiary summaries, citation-verification records, analytical products, open-source research files, briefing materials, and records showing how the Department evaluated or relied upon its sources.

 

I do not request unrelated private information such as home addresses, medical information, financial-account information, dates of birth, or family contact information.

 

4. Distribution, referral, and interagency coordination

 

Records sufficient to show whether the report, its drafts, its underlying research, or information concerning Chris Smalls, the Amazon Labor Union, or DSA was:

 

• provided or referred to another federal entity;

• requested by another federal entity; or

• prepared in coordination with another federal entity.

 

This includes records sufficient to identify the receiving entity, date, stated purpose, and type of information transmitted.

 

Relevant entities include:

 

• the White House or National Security Council;

• the Department of Justice;

• the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

• the Department of Homeland Security;

• the Office of the Director of National Intelligence;

• the Department of the Treasury;

• the Department of Defense; and

• any interagency body addressing political violence, terrorism, extremism, foreign influence, or subversion.

 

5. Possible governmental use

 

Final guidance, directives, referrals, recommendations, or implementation records concerning any proposed or approved use of the report or its underlying information in:

 

• law-enforcement or administrative investigations;

• intelligence collection or analysis;

• surveillance or watchlisting;

• visa or immigration decisions;

• sanctions;

• security screening;

• federal grants or contracts; or

• dissemination to law-enforcement, intelligence, foreign-government, or private-sector recipients.

 

6. Public presentation and messaging

 

Substantive talking points, press guidance, question-and-answer documents, briefing materials, or media-strategy records concerning the report’s discussion of Chris Smalls, the Amazon Labor Union, or DSA, including use of the terms:

 

• “front groups and fellow travelers”;

• “left-wing terrorism”;

• “far-left terrorism”;

• “foreign influence”;

• “subversion”; or

• substantially similar terms.

 

Likely offices and custodians

 

Please search offices reasonably likely to possess responsive records, including:

 

• the Office of the Secretary;

• the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs;

• the Office of Cuban Affairs;

• the Bureau of Counterterrorism;

• the Bureau of Intelligence and Research;

• the Office of the Legal Adviser;

• the Office of Policy Planning; and

• the Bureau of Global Public Affairs.

 

This list is intended to assist the search and should not exclude another office shown by Department records to have participated.

 

Search terms

 

Relevant search terms include:

 

• “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism”

• “Cuba Report”

• “Chris Smalls”

• “Amazon Labor Union”

• “ALU”

• “Democratic Socialists of America”

• “DSA”

• “front groups and fellow travelers”

• “left-wing terrorism”

• “far-left terrorism”

• “foreign influence”

• “subversion”

 

Please search official email, attachments, shared drives, document-management systems, collaborative-work platforms, and official electronic-message systems reasonably likely to contain responsive records.

 

Please exclude duplicate copies and purely routine transmittal messages containing no substantive discussion.

 

Request for expedited processing

 

I request expedited processing because I am primarily engaged in disseminating information and there is an urgent need to inform the public about actual or alleged federal-government activity.

 

I am an independent writer and publisher. I regularly research, analyze, edit, and publish information for the public through Appalachian Juju, the Appalachian Juju Public Initiative, The Porch Light, and associated public social-media channels. I intend to analyze and promptly publish information obtained through this request.

 

The report was published on July 20, 2026, and names living American citizens and domestic political and labor organizations within a federal narrative concerning foreign subversion, extremism, and terrorism.

 

The public urgently needs to understand:

 

• who authored and approved the report;

• what evidence and standards were used;

• whether legal or civil-liberties concerns were reviewed;

• whether the information has been transmitted to other government entities; and

• whether it may be used for investigative, intelligence, immigration, sanctions, watchlisting, contracting, or law-enforcement purposes.

 

Disclosure after current public debate and potential policy decisions have concluded would substantially reduce the records’ value in informing public understanding and oversight.

 

I certify that the statements supporting this request for expedited processing are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

 

News-media requester status

 

I request classification as a representative of the news media.

 

I gather information of current public interest, apply editorial judgment and historical analysis, create distinct written and audiovisual work, and distribute that work publicly through an independently operated website, publication, and public social-media channels.

 

The requested records support that news-dissemination activity and are not sought for commercial use.

 

Fee waiver

 

I request a waiver of all fees because disclosure is in the public interest, is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of identifiable Department of State operations and activities, and is not primarily in my commercial interest.

 

The requested records would reveal information not fully available in the published report, including:

 

• its authorship;

• its evidentiary basis;

• its review and approval process;

• its interagency distribution; and

• its possible governmental use.

 

I intend to use editorial judgment and historical context to explain the responsive information and distribute my findings to a public audience.

 

If the fee waiver is denied, I agree to pay properly assessed fees up to $25. Please notify me before incurring fees exceeding that amount.

 

Form of production

 

Please provide responsive records electronically in native format, including existing metadata where reasonably available, or as searchable PDF files.

 

Please:

 

• make rolling or interim releases;

• release all reasonably segregable nonexempt portions;

• identify the FOIA exemption relied upon for each withholding or redaction;

• identify the approximate volume of material withheld; and

• provide an estimated completion date.

 

If any portion of this request requires clarification or could be processed substantially faster through a reasonable modification, please contact me before rejecting, administratively closing, or substantially narrowing the request.

 

Thank you,

 

Appalachian Juju Public Initiative

Independent Writer and Publisher