Mamdani friend and advisor met with Cuban dictator: report

Danny Valdez, a friend and adviser to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel during a 2023 trip to Cuba with a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) delegation, according to a report published Sunday by the New York Post.The report, based on a since-deleted blog post titled “The Cuba Diaries,” said the delegation traveled to Cuba from October 22 to 26, 2023. Valdez confirmed the trip and his meeting with Díaz-Canel to the media outlet.
The purpose of the trip was to build support for ending the longstanding U.S. embargo against the communist regime.
Valdez said the Cuban government views him as a potential partner in efforts to end the embargo. The delegation reportedly stayed at a luxury Havana hotel and visited prominent Cuban political figures.
Valdez previously said he advised Mamdani on Cuba policy during the mayoral campaign and hosted a fundraiser for him in 2025. In April 2026, he founded Cuban Americans for Cuba, which is a nonprofit advocating an end to the U.S. embargo.
The New York Post reported that Valdez criticized U.S. policy toward Cuba while acknowledging political repression by the Cuban government, including the imprisonment of his grandfather. 

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