Center for a Free Cuba

02/11/2026

Cuban terrorism.

The Center for a Free Cuba (CFC), in collaboration with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, held the conference “Cuba: Sixty Years of Terror” to ma...

01/20/2026

The Center for a Free Cuba (CFC), in collaboration with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, held the conference “Cuba: Sixty Years of Terror” on January 13, 2026 to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Tricontinental Conference held from January 3 to 15, 1966, where a network for international subversion and terrorism called the Organization of Solidarity with the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL) was created, costing many lives, and sowing discord in nations around the world.

The conference was held at the Victims of Communism Memorial Museum located at 900 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005.
The gathering began at 8:45am and ended at 1:30pm.

The conference featured terror victims, a U.S. congresswoman, a Colombian senator, a Colombian former vice president, analysts, intellectuals, activists, and international parliamentarians who discussed and analyzed the harm done, and the continuing danger posed by the terror international created to subvert, and destroy democracies replacing them with communist regimes allied to Beijing, Moscow, and Havana.

Among the participants were Joe Connor, son of Frank Connor who was murdered in a bombing by Havana backed FALN terrorists in New York City’s Fraunces Tavern, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL25), Mike Gonzalez of the Heritage Foundation, former Vice President of Colombia Pacho Santos, Colombian Senator María Fernanda Cabal, and Maite Araluce, President, Association of Victims of Terrorism, among others.

The event was introduced by the presidents of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and the Center for a Free Cuba, Dr. Eric Patterson and attorney Manuel Iglesias, respectively.
Havana held its own 60th anniversary of the Tricontinental Conference that began on January 12th and concluded on January 14, 2026.

Agenda

9:00 am Welcome

Dr. Eric Patterson,
President and CEO, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

Manuel Iglesias,
President, Center for a Free Cuba

9:15 am–10:45 am Panel 1 – The Tricontinental Conference in Havana: The Internationalization of Terror

Mike González,
The Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow, The Heritage Foundation

John Suarez,
Executive Director, Center for a Free Cuba

Maibort Petit,
Political scientist and journalist specializing in transnational organized crime

Moderator: Ana Harmata, Latin America Program Officer, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation

Keynote Speaker: Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz

11:00 am–12:30 pm Panel 2 – Cuba and Its Impact on Global Terrorism: ETA, USA, and the Colombian Guerrillas

Joe Connor,
Son of Frank Connor, murdered in the Fraunces Tavern attack in New York

Maite Araluce,
President, Association of Victims of Terrorism

Matías Jove,
Executive Director, Spanish Association Cuba in Transition

Francisco Santos Calderón,
Former Vice President of Colombia

Moderator: Vanessa Vallejo,
Economist and Washington, D.C. Correspondent, Voz Media

Keynote Speaker: Rosa María Payá, Executive Director of the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy

12:45 pm-1:10 pm Closing Remarks

Jorge Martín Frías,
Member of the European Parliament, Spain

María Fernanda Cabal,
Member of the Senate, Republic of Colombia

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Watch "A Discussion with Ambassador Paula Dobriansky" here:
https://youtu.be/iw9Skp-sP14

A Discussion with Ambassador Paula Dobriansky
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and the Institute of World Politics Graduate School had the pleasure of hosting a conversation with VOC Trustee Ambassador Paula Dobriansky about the book she edited for her late father, Dr. Lev E. Dobriansky, Unyielding Resolve: Captive Nations and the Path to Freedom on May 2, 2025. During this discussion, Ambassador Dobriansky was joined by Michael Sawkiw, Jr., President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, and John Suarez, Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba.

Read the full Brief here: https://cubacenter.org/cuba-brief/2025/05/09/cubabrief-a-conversation-with-amb-paula-dobriansky-regarding-unyielding-resolve-captive-nations-and-the-path-to-freedom-the-book-she-edited-for-her-late-father-dr-lev-e-dobriansky/

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Watch the Committee on Homeland Security video here: https://youtu.be/v0rULLTw7l88

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CubaBrief: On May 2nd in 1973 NJ State Trooper Foerster was gunned down by Communist militant harbored in Cuba today by Havana

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Read the full Brief: https://cubacenter.org/cuba-brief/2025/05/02/cubabrief-on-this-day-in-1973-nj-state-trooper-foerster-was-gunned-down-by-communist-militant-harbored-in-cuba-today-by-havana/