Rubio Rescinds Legal Status of Cuban Influence Operative

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the legal status of a Cuban national alleged to have operated as a subversive agent for the communist regime for over a decade in influence operations on U.S. soil.

Carlos Antonio Lloga Dominguez, who was previously employed by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People (ICAP), which the U.S. State Department called communist Cuba’s “premier influence and intelligence front group in the United States,” is now in federal custody pending removal from the country along with his wife and son.

“This week, three Cuban nationals were apprehended by federal agents following Secretary Rubio’s termination of their legal status,” State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said in a statement on July 1.

The action underscores the United States’ policies against what it said had been Havana’s efforts to expand its socialist revolution through propaganda and political influence.

Lloga Dominguez “has continued to maintain ties to the transnational communist subversion network throughout his time residing in our nation,” the statement read.

Rubio designated ICAP for sanctions earlier this month under Executive Order 14404. It functions as a central node in Cuban intelligence and influence activities, the department stated. The group claims ties to more than 2,000 organizations in more than 150 countries and has significant ties to Cuban spies.

The organization’s current president, Fernando González Llort, is a convicted Cuban spy who served 15 years in U.S. prison for his part in the Wasp Network, an espionage ring from Florida in the late 1990s and one of the largest such networks ever found on U.S. soil.

“ICAP, which Secretary Rubio designated for sanctions under Executive Order 14404 earlier this month, is the central node in a sprawling Cuban intelligence and influence operation,” the statement read. “The organization has a long and intimate relationship with Cuban intelligence agents.”

The move comes amid broader U.S. pressure on Havana’s communist regime. Rubio, whose family fled Cuba before the 1959 communist revolution, has repeatedly called for fundamental changes in Havana’s leadership as the island faces economic crises, blackouts, and internal unrest.

“Under the Trump Administration, America will never become home for Cuban Communist regime thugs who peddle propaganda, run foreign influence operations, or seek to wage revolution against American civilization,” Pigott said. “As a reminder, pursuant to Executive Order 14404, all ICAP property and interests in property are blocked and any transactions with ICAP are prohibited absent an express authorization by the Departments of Treasury or State. And any foreign aliens involved in ICAP’s anti-American subversion operations should expect to soon find themselves on an ICE deportation flight.”

ICAP has maintained an “outsized footprint” in the United States, trafficking in propaganda and building relationships with radical groups, according to the department.

Rubio has said the policy is necessary for countering subversion and ensuring U.S. sovereignty.