AFPI Releases Research Report on Cuba and the Fight for the Western Hemisphere

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) released a new research report, The Dictatorship Next Door: Cuba and the Fight for the Western Hemisphere, under AFPI’s Western Hemisphere Initiative. This report outlines the history and threat of the Cuban regime, particularly due to its deepening ties with China, Russia, Iran, and other hostile regimes, and provides policy recommendations for treating Cuba as a central front in confronting threats to American security across the Western Hemisphere.

The report argues that the United States cannot afford to treat Cuba as a peripheral issue or view the Cuban government as solely representing Cubans. As Cuba’s economic and political crisis deepens, Havana remains a platform for America’s adversaries, a source of regional instability, and a persistent threat to U.S. national security interests.

“Cuba is not simply an authoritarian regime 90 miles from our shores; it is a strategic challenge to the United States and a growing platform for our adversaries in the Western Hemisphere. The United States should stop treating Cuba as an isolated diplomatic problem and start treating it as a national security priority,” said Melissa Ford Maldonado, AFPI's Director of the Western Hemisphere Initiative. “Any future relationship with Havana must be based on one principle: the Cuban people deserve freedom, and America’s adversaries should not be allowed to use Cuba as a foothold against the United States and our allies.”

Drawing on Cuba’s history and its long relationship with the United States, the report highlights the challenges the regime continues to pose to American interests and the broader Western Hemisphere. It offers a path forward for a stronger U.S. policy toward Cuba that puts American security, regional stability, and democratic freedom at the forefront.

To read the full report, click here.