Hasan Piker defended himself, tiny coffee cup in hand, from Havana.
Mr. Piker, a left-wing political commentator with millions of online followers, was in Cuba as part of a humanitarian mission to deliver supplies to Cubans, and to demand an end,
he said, to U.S. measures that have isolated the island and contributed to its economic collapse.
The humanitarian mission — named the Nuestra América Convoy (or Our America Convoy) — is part of a larger movement to bring public awareness to Cuba’s plight. Amid fuel shortages caused by a U.S. blockade that have ground life on the island to a halt, the convoy is delivering thousands of pounds of food, medicine and solar panels.
Mr. Piker’s group, which traveled to the island by plane, will soon be joined by activists carrying more aid
by boat.
The mission, however, has stumbled on political land mines. Cuba’s government, which gave the convoy its
blessing, has been broadly criticized for repression, including detaining about 1,000 political prisoners, and surveilling its population.
The group was also criticized this weekend for doing what would normally be ordinary things, such as staying in a hotel with an electrical generator and using motorized vehicles.
Critics, including some Cubans on the island, were quick to point out that Cuba is running so short on gas that hospitals have had to ration power and garbage has piled up in the streets.
Mr. Piker and other activists stayed at the Iberostar Marques de la Torre in Havana, which kept the lights on thanks to a generator when, for the second time in a week, Cuba was plunged into darkness amid a
nationwide blackout on Saturday night.
On a
choppy livestream, Mr. Piker defended the decision, saying it was the only type of place that Americans were allowed to stay. “The American government makes it illegal for Americans to stay wherever they want when they’re in Cuba,” said Mr. Piker, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (The list of U.S.-approved hotels also includes lodging with lower ratings.)
Convoy organizers said that while some members opted for hotels with capacity for large groups, other participants stayed in smaller lodgings, including private homes.
Right-wing commentators and Cuban exiles — who detest Cuba’s Communist government — were quick to attack.
The Nuestra América Convoy includes a broad array of participants, from cultural figures like Mr. Piker and activists from the U.S.-based group
Code Pink, to labor organizers and politicians from across Latin America and Europe.
Critics online called them names like “
champagne socialists” and “
comunista de caviar.”
Some Cubans on the island, including the prominent independent journalist Yoani Sánchez, also questioned the group’s presence.
“They say they have come to stand with the Cuban people but they meet with the man who gave the order to repress those who took to the streets on July 11 demanding freedom,” Ms. Sánchez
wrote on X, posting a photo of Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel. She used a hashtag to refer to the massive protests of July 11, 2021,
the country’s largest demonstrations in decades, which prompted a forceful crackdown by government forces involving hundreds of arrests.
Organizers said that the president had welcomed members of the delegation in an informal event at a convention center.
Cuban exiles also pointed out that they themselves would like to deliver aid to fellow citizens but could not easily do so because of American and Cuban travel restrictions.
As the first convoy members arrived this weekend, distributing aid and meeting with Cubans, several boats were making their way toward Cuba from Mexico, led by the Granma 2.0 — named after the yacht used by Ernesto “Che” Guevara,
Fidel Castro and other revolutionaries to reach Cuba in 1956.
The mission includes members of the European Parliament;
Christian Smalls, a U.S. labor leader; and a delegation from the Democratic Socialists of America — the left-wing party that includes Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.
Other prominent participants include Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of Britain’s Labour Party, and Isra Hirsi, a daughter of Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota.
One of the leaders of the effort, David Adler, organized a
similar flotilla to Gaza last year that was thwarted by Israeli forces, who maintain a blockade there.
Mr. Piker, whose involvement appeared to bring more attention to the Cuba convoy, has also been a vocal critic of President Trump’s foreign policy in the Middle East. Last year, he said he was
questioned at a U.S. airport about his views on Gaza and Mr. Trump.
Mission members were also criticized for
appearing at a party in Havana where Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, which is part of the group, performed. One of its members faced terrorism charges in England for displaying a Hezbollah flag. (The charges were later dismissed.) Hezbollah is the Lebanon-based militant group that violently opposes Israel.
Partygoers shouted, in Spanish, “Cuba yes! Blockade no!”
Organizers said that delegates had not planned a party — there was no formal program for the visit — but rather had joined an open-air
festival in Havana that was already underway, and that Kneecap had given an impromptu performance.
Online, some critics of the mission also
shared footage of what appeared to be participants sitting on small tour buses, clapping and singing. Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, a Cuban American Republican from Florida, reposted the video, excoriating the left.
“This isn’t a spring break trip,” she said.
Mr. Adler, a lead convoy organizer, blamed Ms. Salazar for
championing the blockade that was “directly causing the suffering of the Cuban people,” adding, “We reject this logic of collective punishment.”
There has been relatively little public response from Democrats to the humanitarian crisis and monthslong U.S. blockade on Cuba. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, is among the few who have spoken out, criticizing U.S. policy and
calling it part of a “new era of depravity.”
In
a video posted this weekend, Mr. Piker said that his goal in going to Cuba was to “bring awareness to what my government — the United States of America — has done to the Cuban population. One of the most ridiculous embargoes of all time.”
Mr. Piker has emerged as an influential figure on the American left after years of building a following outside traditional political media.
Since Mr. Trump was elected to a second term, he has received greater attention from Democrats and from the mainstream media, viewed as someone who might succeed in bringing more young people — particularly young men — back into the progressive fold.
On the livestream from his hotel, Mr. Piker addressed the latest criticism.
He acknowledged that his Havana accommodations represented “prosperity.” The “dichotomy” between the hotel and how normal Cubans lived had definitely — he used an unprintable expression — messed him up, he said.
“Definitely,” he added.
Luis Ferré-Sadurní contributed reporting from Bogotá, Colombia, and Jack Nicasand Emiliano Rodríguez Mega from Mexico City.
Annie Correal is a Latin America correspondent for The Times.
