Investigative journalist Matthew Vadum appeared on NewsX World’s World Report in India on July 30, 2026 (July 31 in New Delhi) to discuss several international stories.
On the Gaza front, Vadum addressed the Trump administration’s Board of Peace framework for phased Hamas disarmament. A senior U.S. official had warned that President Trump would be “very disappointed” if Israel blocked advancement of the plan. Vadum noted ongoing strain in U.S.-Israel relations stemming from differences over the Iran conflict and operations in Lebanon. He observed that Israel seeks complete demilitarization of Hamas first, while Hamas wants guarantees of Israeli withdrawal first, making the sequence critical. Vadum said the United States is reminding Israel of the original framework that secured the hostages’ release and that mediators, including Jared Kushner (who helped deliver the Abraham Accords), could still produce a workable agreement, though details remain unresolved.
The program also covered Cuba’s newly approved economic reforms expanding private-sector activity in tourism, fuel and medicine imports, and land use. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel insisted the measures are a sovereign choice, not a response to U.S. pressure.
Vadum said the communist dictator was lying.
“Socialism doesn’t work. And all communist countries pretty well go through this. This happened with the Soviet Union back in the 1920s. And they carried out the, what was it called? The NEP, the New Economic Plan from [1921] to [1928]. They had other reforms in ’65 and then in the 80s. You know, China has done this. Vietnam has done this. Laos has done this. Communist Hungary, Yugoslavia under Tito. They all collapse under the weight of socialism, which is sclerotic and doesn’t recognize human nature. It abolishes the profit motive and doesn’t recognize that people need to be rewarded for their efforts. So, some of this is because of U.S. measures against Cuba. And a lot of it is because it’s reached a certain point where … socialism causes a collapse of the economy and causes a collapse of society,” Vadum said.
“When … the leaders of the dictatorship in Cuba say that this is … a sovereign decision that the country just decided to do on its own — that’s just nonsense,” Vadum continued. “They’re lying. It’s because their system doesn’t work. So they’re planning to inject a little bit of free market capitalism to get the country back on its feet and to prevent people from rioting and starving. So that’s what I think is really happening now.”
Vadum continued: “The people who run Cuba are hardcore Marxist-Leninists and that’s the way they like it, and I don’t think they’re going to willingly give up their system permanently. They’re only doing this in an effort to save the system, and then they will go back to the steel-toed boot of socialism once the pressure is off or once the economy improves.”
Separately, NewsX World reported on the mass migrant crossings into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco. Thousands breached the border by swimming, wading, and climbing fences at Tarajal Beach, prompting Spain to deploy military units and additional police. Retired Indian Army Major General Sudhakar Jee appeared on the panel to analyze the crisis, describing the scale of the influx and the security challenges it posed for Spanish and European authorities.
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