International Department report presented by Ani Toncheva to the CPUSA National Committee meeting of July 11, 2026.

We are organizing in a time of acute international crisis and instability.

Donald Trump, who ran as a “peace candidate,” and his racist goons continue to threaten world peace on a daily basis. The ongoing conflict with Iran — including the bombing of school children — has disrupted oil markets and, subsequently, other goods, hurting workers around the world and alarming the international community. Iran announced that it has added two “senior psychologists” to its negotiating team to help shape messaging to the U.S. president. The Guardian recently observed, “Trump isn’t unethical. He’s non-ethical.”

The brutal attacks on revolutionary Cuba’s sovereignty by the U.S. government continue to escalate, yet the Cuban people remain firm. Our colleagues from the Peace and Solidarity Commission will expand on recent developments on the island. I will note that this past week we attended a session of the UN General Assembly, where Cuba called for a debate on the U.S. embargo. The United States cynically opposed debate on the grounds of the meeting’s cost, calling it “wasteful.” While Cuba prevailed with 136 “yes” votes and many supportive statements, it is worth noting that 9 countries voted against and 30 abstained. This speaks to the aggressive pressure campaign by the U.S. leading up to the vote and a global rise in right-wing governments willing to support U.S. imperialist policy in exchange for weapons deliveries or other trinkets for their ruling classes.

The volatile actions of the MAGA administration are driving militarist rhetoric within NATO. At a recent summit in Ankara, Trump continued to lash out at other members for not spending enough on defense. In response, NATO countries are committing to massive defense spending, expansion of Asia-Pacific engagement, and aggressive rhetoric toward China—against the will of working people calling to move money from military budgets to human needs. Our comrades in Turkey were met with mass arrests while protesting the summit.

At home, Trump’s base is splitting. Rising gas prices, fluctuating tariffs, the Epstein files, and the $113 billion spent on the war with Iran were not their idea of “America First.” On the Democratic side, a rift is widening between so-called “national security Democrats,” who more or less support Trump’s foreign policy but not his “style,” and more progressive insurgent candidates advocating for the reduction of the military budget and upholding international law.

The genocide in Palestine continues to play a major role in electoral politics. Instead of addressing growing concerns about economic issues and endless wars, Trump is responding with rants about the communist menace and escalating attacks on peace activists—including recent “foreign agent” accusations against Cuba solidarity groups.

International Department

In the face of these global challenges, the International Department is expanding its work and continuing to build strong ties between the CPUSA and the world communist and workers movement, while also expanding our research collective.

The ID is working with the Peace and Solidarity Commission and the Org Department to initiate party-wide meetings to facilitate Cuba solidarity across the country. The ID, along with other members of party leadership, has attended multiple international forums on support for Cuba led by sister parties.

The ID research collective has taken up the publishing of International Notes on CPUSA.org on a monthly basis. The last installment covers the defeat of the anti-worker so-called “labor package” in Portugal; economic reforms in Cuba amid imperialist siege by the United States; analysis from the Tudeh Party of Iran on the internal political situation; the Lebanese Communist Party’s opposition to the terms to end Israel’s war; struggles against government repression and privatization in Bolivia; the struggle against far-right racist violence in Ireland and Britain; communist electoral struggles in Cyprus, India, and Israel; and the launch of the Council of the Left by the South African Communist Party.

We have received international delegations from Vietnam and Japan and discussed the importance of coordinated work on the questions of peace and nuclear non-proliferation. We are in communication with other sister parties on developing common work.

Since our last NC, the ID has coordinated party travel to China for an international communist youth delegation organized by the Communist Party of China and to France for the recent French Communist Party congress. We have also coordinated with several comrades traveling to Cuba for study and research.

The ID continues to prepare for a Hello Comrade delegation to India in the fall, after the U.S. midterms. The delegation will focus on cooperatives, mass work, rural women’s organizing, labor and anti-casteist organizing, and devolution of governance to localized decision-making.

Image: Fred Barr / CPUSA