July 15, 2026 — Belly of the Beast
Democrats to Rubio: “Show Us the Receipts”
Russian and Chinese spy bases. Hamas and Hezbollah. Terrorism. Communism.
To justify economic war on Cuba, the Trump administration is leaning on a seemingly endless list of flimsy allegations to argue that Cuba poses a threat to U.S. national security.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM), who traveled to Cuba last week with three other Democratic members of Congress, said none of the administration’s accusations against Cuba have been backed up.
“For all of that long list of claims, we have seen no proof,” Leger Fernández told Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández in an exclusive interview. “That’s one of the things that the American people, the American media, the American Congress needs to demand.”
Leger Fernández was on the verge of tears as she recounted visiting a Cuban hospital and hearing about the rise in infant mortality due to sanctions and the U.S. oil blockade.
“Why would we do that? Why would Americans support that?” she asked.
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) recalled a young Cuban engineer’s message for Donald Trump: “Can you tell your president he has his foot on my neck? Either he ends my life or he pulls the foot off my neck.”
Nine million people, Ramirez continued, “feel that they’re being choked” by U.S. economic warfare.
Embassy Denies Lawmakers a Meeting
The U.S. embassy in Havana declined the congressional delegation’s request for a meeting — a response that Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) says is not normal. Pocan visited Cuba four years ago on a congressional visit, when he held extensive meetings with U.S. embassy officials.
“I don’t think they really want people to know what’s going on because they’re putting a false narrative out there,” he said.
Asked whether Cuba poses a threat to the United States, the lawmakers’ response was categorical.
“In none of the three days that we have been here have I seen that the Cuban people are a threat to the American people,” Ramirez said. “What I’ve seen is this real desire of being in solidarity with one another.”
