Justine Medina, a former aide to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), has assumed a leadership position within the New York State Communist Party, according to records first unveiled by The New York Post.

Medina, 33, was previously employed by AOC’s campaign in 2020 and received a salary of approximately $35,000 per annum. Following her tenure with the congresswoman, Medina’s appointment as “Co-chair of the New York Communist League” was announced by the People’s World, a publication associated with the Communist Party.

The publication currently identifies Medina as a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Communist Party, as well as an active participant in the Amazon Labor Union at JFK8.

As an aide to the Congresswoman, Medina was responsible for “organizing and writing policy language with Anti-War Veterans & the Peace Movement.”

“[W]ell, I *am* a Communist, but work for AOC & helped start Queens DSA’s Electoral WG, so I def see utility in working on the Dem ballot line!” Medina tweeted in October 2020.

Haha, well, I *am* a Communist, but work for AOC & helped start Queens DSA's Electoral WG, so I def see utility in working on the Dem ballot line! But yes we should run third party candidates where it makes sense! And IMPORTANTLY, channel ppl who join thru electoral elsewhere too

— Justine Medina (@jnmedina8989) October 7, 2020

In a separate tweet, she describes communism as being about “equality, democracy, peace, the advancement of workers, the oppressed and humanity in general,” adding that communists will be “unkind” to those who “block progress.”

Medina’s work for AOC and her rise within the Communist Party adds further weight to the claim that the New York Congresswoman harbors even more extreme views than the “democratic socialism” of which she says she is an adherent.

However, AOC has previously denounced claims of her sympathies to communism by pointing out that civil rights campaigners such as Martin Luther King were regularly derided as such.

“Calling people who believe in democracy, civil + economic rights, and racial justice “communist” has a long + rich history w/ white supremacy in the US,” she wrote in 2019. “It was one of the preferred smears against integrating schools, & one of the main attacks segregationists used against MLK Jr.”

Calling people who believe in democracy, civil + economic rights, and racial justice “communist” has a long + rich history w/ white supremacy in the US.

It was one of the preferred smears against integrating schools, & one of the main attacks segregationists used against MLK Jr: https://t.co/pNdpD8sjWY pic.twitter.com/mTRNj4jjJA

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 17, 2019

One of AOC’s most controversial issues has been her support for lifting the economic embargo on communist Cuba, although she has previously denounced the regime’s flagrant attacks on civil liberties and human rights.

In July 2021, she released a statement in support of demonstrations taking place in Cuba against the regime and its president Miguel Díaz-Canel, yet attacked the Biden administration’s unwillingness to lift any sanctions against the Caribbean island.

“We are seeing Cubans rise up and protest for their rights like never before.  We stand in solidarity with them, and we condemn the anti-democratic actions led by President Díaz-Canel,” she wrote at the time. “The suppression of the media, speech and protest are all gross violations of civil rights.”

“We also must name the U.S. contribution to Cuban suffering: our sixty-year-old embargo,” she continued. “Last month, once again, the U.N. voted overwhelmingly to call on the United States to lift its embargo on Cuba. The embargo is absurdly cruel and, like too many other U.S. policies targeting Latin Americans, the cruelty is the point. I outright reject the Biden administration’s defense of the embargo. It is never acceptable for us to use cruelty as a point of leverage against every day people.”