A friend and advisor to socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with the president of Cuba during a luxe trip to the communist nation — where they conspired to subvert US foreign policy, according to a since-deleted travel diary obtained by The Post.
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they → meet → Post
Danny Valdez, who hosted a fundraiser for Mamdani’s mayoral campaign in 2025, traveled to Cuba with a delegation from the DSA International Committee from Oct. 22 to Oct. 26, 2023, according to the Nov. 9, 2023 blog post, entitled “The Cuba Diaries.”
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who → host → post
The delegation met with President Miguel Diaz-Canel on the third day of the trip with the purpose of partnering to end the US embargo, in place since 1962, three years after Fidel Castro imposed a communist dictatorship on the island, he recalled.
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he → meet → island
“It was genuinely a big accomplishment for our delegation that this meeting took place.
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meeting → take → place
It was a sign that the Cuban government took our organization seriously and saw us as potential partners in the work of ending the US blockade,” Valdez wrote.
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Valdez → take → blockade
During the meeting, the Cuban president whined about the US-imposed blockade.
“No other country has to operate under such conditions.
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country → whine → conditions
Vietnam and China are not under blockade, and are able to develop their approach to socialism,” Diaz-Canel said, according to Valdez.
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Canel → develop → Valdez
Valdez and the delegation have not be accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with the visit.
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Valdez → accuse → visit
Valdez can be seen grinning in a group photo with the Cuban president, who became the first non-Castro to lead the island in over 60 years, after Fidel Castro’s brother Raul stepped down in 2021.
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brother → see → 2021
In April 2026, Valdez founded “Cuban Americans for Cuba,” a nonprofit group that advocates for an end to the US embargo.
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that → found → embargo
“We are Cuban Americans united by a common goal: to end the US embargo on Cuba,” its website stated.
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website → unite → Cuba
DSA co-chair Ashik Siddique is also seen next to Diaz-Canel in the photo posted on Valdez’s blog.
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Siddique → see → blog
During their stay, Valdez, Siddique and other DSA members lodged at the “glitzy” Grand Aston Havana, a privately owned five-star, 600-room hotel equipped with a rooftop pool, spa, bars and restaurants.
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Valdez → lodge → pool
“We undoubtedly had an abnormally luxurious experience of Cuba.
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We → have → Cuba
We were driven around in a large air-conditioned bus.
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We → drive → bus
We had ample access to food and water.
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We → have → food
Our hotel was sleek and modern, with a rooftop pool, a gym, and a full bar at our disposal,” Valdez kvelled about the trip.
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Valdez → kvelle → trip
Valdez claimed that the hotel would “hoard food” and contrasted the “splendor” he and his fellow champagne socialists enjoyed with scenes of starving people and buildings he described as looking “bombed out.”
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he → claim → people
And he gushed about the “welcome cocktail” provided by the hotel, which he described as a “sweet, blue concoction with rum in it.”
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he → gush → it
The group dined at many of the top restaurants in Cuba and concluded their trip at La Torre, an elegant restaurant located on the 33rd floor of Cuba’s iconic Focsa building.
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group → din → building
A stunning 94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty, and eight out of 10 people on the island skip meals daily, according to the “Ninth Study on Social Rights” put out by Spain-based human rights organization Cuban Observatory of Human Rights in August.
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people → live → August
Valdez, who staged a short-lived bid for New York City Council in District 3, which encompasses the West Village and Chelsea, claimed to have advised Mamdani on Cuba policy in a 2025 DSA candidate questionnaire.
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which → stag → questionnaire
“Almost a year ago, we hosted a small fundraiser in our living room for a friend, organizer, and socialist in office running what felt like a long-shot campaign for mayor,” he wrote.
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he → host → mayor
Valdez, who lived in a Chelsea apartment until 2025, works as an information technology lead for science education nonprofit BioBus, according to his LinkedIn.
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who → live → LinkedIn
It is unclear where he resides currently.
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he → reside → ?
His family fled Cuba following the communist overthrow of the island, but Valdez seemed to bend over backwards to justify the Cuban regime’s horrific human rights abuses – including the imprisonment of his own grandfather.
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Valdez → flee → grandfather
“Of course I wish that the Cuban government did not resort to the type of political repression that led to my grandfather being jailed for six years,” he wrote, adding, “But wishes do not make political reality.”
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wishes → wish → reality
He rattled off a litany of gripes against the US policy toward Cuba, which he claimed forced the communist regime to govern as if it is in a “constant state of war.”
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it → rattle → war
“When one understands where the aggression in this conflict originates, and appreciates the scale at which a war is indeed being waged against Cuba, it is difficult not to side with Cuba,” he added.
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he → understand → Cuba
Valdez, who did not respond to The Post’s request for comment, even goes so far as to defend Cuba’s Committee for the Defense of Revolution (CDR), a Gestapo-like outfit that surveils neighborhoods and disappears anyone deemed a threat to the regime.
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that → respond → regime
He credited the CDR with building a “thriving community” that was enriching the lives of children, despite admitting that the CDR was responsible for his grandfather’s arrest.
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CDR → credit → arrest
The DSA delegation met with numerous high-profile Cuban political figures during their four-day long jaunt, including Fidel Castro’s niece, Mariela Castro, at the island’s National Center for Sex Education.
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delegation → meet → Education
There she regaled the crowd of socialists with the tale of how she established a “National Day Against Homophobia.”
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she → regale → Homophobia
When the date she selected, May 17, coincided with the already established “Farmers Day,” Castro ran into a roadblock, but managed to remedy the situation by combining the two as “Farmers Against Homophobia Day.”
In August, the DSA released a tribute to “100 Years of Fidel [Castro],” who crushed dissent and drove the economy on the lush tropical island into ruin.
“Fidel was an organizer, a fighter, and endures as a stalwart symbol of anti-imperialist struggle and self-determination for the Global South,” the statement said, without mentioning Cuban political prisoners.
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statement → select → prisoners
Valdez confirmed the trip to The Post and that he met with Cuba’s president.
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he → confirm → president
He also said that he advised Mamdani on Cuba policy during his mayoral campaign ahead a September 2025 appearance on “The Moment with Jorge Ramos and Paola Ramos” podcast.
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he → say → podcast
He said he and the DSA traveled to Cuba to “challenge the blockade” and “affirm our position that we do not support the general policies the US has toward Cuba.”
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US → say → Cuba
Siddique did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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Siddique → respond → comment
The Aporia
