Newsmax interviews the Movement: Jesús M. Estévez on teaching the history of communism in Florida schools

Florida, October 13, 2026. U.S. news outlet Newsmax published “Florida Goes Back to School Against Communism”, a report by journalist Craig Myers. The article covers the new required instruction on the history of communism in Florida’s public schools and includes an interview with Jesús M. Estévez, executive director of the Movimiento Anticomunista y Defensores de la Libertad (MADL).

What the report covers

Since last fall, the Florida Board of Education has required K-12 teachers to provide at least 45 minutes of instruction based on the state’s History of Communism Standards around Victims of Communism Day, which Florida has observed on November 7 since a 2022 law (this year it falls on November 6). Topics include Lenin and the Russian Revolution, Stalin, Mao, Hugo Chávez, and Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. The report also notes the American Historical Association’s criticism of a similar proposal in Tennessee.

What the Movement said

Estévez explained why Florida has a special relationship with the subject:

“Florida has a unique relationship with this issue because so many people here directly experienced the Cuban system, as well as people who came from Venezuela and other Latin American countries. I am one of them. I was born in Cuba, studied medicine there, and know the system from the inside.”

On how it should be taught, he argued that students should hear from those who lived it:

“I believe schools should teach the historical facts and also allow students to hear directly from people who lived through these experiences. This should not be about telling young people what they have to think. It should be about giving them enough information to think for themselves.”

And his message to young people:

“Do not take freedom for granted … Read. Ask questions. Compare. Question even what we are telling you. But above all, listen to the people who actually lived through these systems.”

The article also describes MADL’s work: defending human rights, documenting conditions inside Cuba, collecting testimony and evidence, and conducting public awareness campaigns.

The full article is available to Newsmax subscribers: “Florida Goes Back to School Against Communism,” Craig Myers, Newsmax, October 13, 2026.

The Movement’s post on Facebook: MADL in Newsmax Platinum (in Spanish).