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Friedman Files Subject #02 Individual
Friedman Files — Dossier #02
Manolo De Los Santos
Executive Director — The People's Forum
Location
Manhattan, NYC
Origin
Dominican Republic
Organization
The People's Forum
Role
Executive Director
Files
33 Documents
Status
Active
File 01
Education & Background
Training
Movement-Based Training
Political Education
Trained through socialist and anti-imperialist political education networks. Educational background focused on movement organizing, international solidarity, and leftist theory rather than traditional academic institutions.
Travel
Cuba Trip — 2006
Pastors for Peace Delegation
First documented Cuba trip in 2006 via Pastors for Peace — an organization that runs caravans defying U.S. travel restrictions to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba. This trip initiated what became over two decades of Cuba solidarity work.
Files 02–06
Employment & Roles
Current Role
Executive Director
The People's Forum, Manhattan · ~2018–Present
Highest-ranking officer of TPF. Oversees $7M+ annual budget, programming, hiring, and all political activities. Fundraises internationally. Last reported compensation: $63,125 (2018); $0 reportable in 2024 despite retaining the title — an unusual disclosure pattern.
Research
Researcher
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research · Active
Official researcher and contributor for Tricontinental, a global leftist think tank with offices in South Africa, India, Brazil, and Argentina. Produces anti-imperialist academic content distributed internationally.
Board Role
Director
Justice and Education Fund (JEF) · Active
Organizational director of JEF alongside David Chung. JEF received $50K from Tides Foundation (2022). Part of the broader Singham funding network. Flagged by the 2023 NYT investigation.
Speaker
People's Conference for Palestine
2024
Featured speaker at the People's Conference for Palestine in Detroit (2024) — a national gathering of organizations coordinating pro-Palestine activism and BDS strategy across the United States.
Founder
Co-Founder, 1804 Books
Active
Co-founder of 1804 Books, a radical bookstore and publisher named after the Haitian Revolution. Distributes socialist, anti-imperialist, and revolutionary literature.
The People's Forum Tricontinental Institute Justice & Education Fund People's Youth Movement 1804 Books
Files 07–12
Protest Activity
Jan 30, 2026
Manhattan, NYC — Anti-ICE Protest Rally
Participated in anti-ICE demonstration amid the Trump administration's deportation enforcement push. Consistent with TPF's pattern of mobilizing against immigration enforcement as part of broader anti-government organizing.
Jan 2025
Pre-Inauguration Organizing — National Coordination
Led TPF's pre-inauguration protest organizing ahead of the January 2025 inauguration. Coordinated logistics with allied national organizations for demonstrations in Washington, D.C. and major cities.
Apr 30, 2024
Columbia University, NYC — Columbia Encampment Solidarity
Documented at Columbia University encampment. Provided ideological and organizational support for campus occupation. TPF served as a national coordination hub for university encampments during Spring 2024.
2024
Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY — Gaza Solidarity March
Participated in large Gaza solidarity march at Grand Army Plaza. Part of sustained protest campaign coordinated by TPF and allied organizations throughout 2024.
2024
Midtown Manhattan, NYC — Midtown Solidarity March
Led organizing for Midtown march as part of TPF's sustained Palestine solidarity campaign. Responsible for permit coordination, speaker logistics, and activist mobilization.
2024
Detroit, MI — People's Conference for Palestine
Featured speaker at the People's Conference for Palestine in Detroit — a multi-day national convergence of organizations coordinating BDS strategy and anti-war activism.
File 13
Documented Statements
"We are in a moment of world historical significance. The Palestinian struggle is our struggle — it is the struggle against empire, against colonialism, against every form of domination."
TPF Event, NYC, 2024
"The blockade on Cuba is economic warfare. It is designed to strangle a revolution that dared to put people before profit. We will not stop until it is lifted."
"Let Cuba Live" Campaign Event, 2023
"There is no separation between the fight for Palestine, the fight for Cuba, the fight against ICE, and the fight against NATO. These are all the same fight against the same empire."
TPF Press Statement, 2024
"Neville Singham is a philanthropist who believes in people's movements. Anyone calling him a CCP agent is engaging in McCarthyism and red-baiting."
Response to NYT Investigation, 2023
"The People's Forum is a movement incubator. We are building the infrastructure for the revolution that is coming."
Tricontinental Institute Interview, 2023
Files 14–22
Cuba Activism & Ties
2006
Pastors for Peace Delegation — First Cuba Trip
First documented trip to Cuba via Pastors for Peace caravan — an organization that deliberately defies U.S. Treasury travel restrictions.
2018
TPF Launch — Cuba as Founding Framework
Founded The People's Forum with Cuba solidarity as a core programmatic pillar. TPF's founding framework explicitly framed Cuba as a model socialist society.
2021
Cuba Fundraising Campaign — $222K Collected
TPF raised $222,000 for Cuba during the 2021 protests, framing it as humanitarian aid. Funds transferred to Cuba amid ongoing U.S. sanctions.
2022
Meeting with Miguel Díaz-Canel — Havana, Cuba
Documented meeting with Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of Cuba and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. Meeting occurred during official Cuba visit organized through TPF networks.
2023
"Let Cuba Live" Drive — $237K+ Collected
TPF's "Let Cuba Live" campaign raised over $237,000. De Los Santos was the public face of the campaign, which framed U.S. sanctions as genocidal.
2023
Photo with Gerardo Hernández — Havana
Photographed with Gerardo Hernández — one of the Cuban Five, convicted in the U.S. of espionage and conspiracy to commit murder. Released in the 2014 Obama-era Cuba deal.
2023
IFCO / Pastors for Peace Events — Multiple U.S. Cities
Spoke at multiple IFCO/Pastors for Peace events across the U.S. promoting Cuba solidarity, lifting the blockade, and opposing U.S. foreign policy toward the island.
2024
Cuba Fundraising Continuation — Ongoing
Continued Cuba fundraising and solidarity events through 2024 as part of TPF's ongoing international programs.
Jan 2026
Cuba Solidarity Statement re: US Policy — Public Statement
Issued public statement opposing U.S. policy toward Cuba in context of new administration foreign policy announcements.
File 23
Venezuela Ties
Documented
Meeting with Nicolás Maduro
Caracas, Venezuela
Documented meeting with President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. TPF has maintained organizational ties with the Maduro government as part of its anti-imperialist international network.
Sustained Engagement
20+ Trips to Venezuela Since 2005
Sustained Engagement
Over two decades of documented travel to Venezuela — one of the most sustained foreign government relationships of any U.S.-based activist. Began during the Chávez era and continued under Maduro.
Venezuela Connection
De Los Santos has more documented ties to the Maduro government than virtually any other U.S.-based activist. Combined with his Cuba connections, he represents a significant foreign government access point operating through a U.S. tax-exempt nonprofit.
File 24
Legal & Arrests
IRS Complaint
Form 13909 — Jan 17, 2024
Filed by StopAntisemitism
Formal IRS complaint (Form 13909) filed against The People's Forum by StopAntisemitism alleging the organization is operating outside its stated 501(c)(3) charitable purpose by coordinating and funding political protests.
Arrest #1
Jan 27, 2024
Manhattan Bridge & JFK Airport
Arrested during protest action spanning Manhattan Bridge and JFK Airport. Part of coordinated TPF-organized demonstration targeting transportation infrastructure. Charged with disorderly conduct.
Arrest #2
May 8, 2024
FIT Encampment, NYC
Arrested at Fashion Institute of Technology encampment during the Spring 2024 campus occupation wave. Second documented arrest within a four-month period. Consistent pattern of on-the-ground escalatory tactics.
Files 25–30
Funding Network
$20M+
Singham Donations (2017–2022)
$15M
TPF Revenue (FY 2019)
$17.4M
TPF Net Assets (FY 2019)
$7.08M
TPF Revenue (2024)
Source
Neville Roy Singham
CCP-linked billionaire · Sold IT firm for $785M · Resides in Shanghai, China · Subject of 2023 NYT investigation
$2.5M (2017) · $4.4M (2018) · $12M (2019)
Intermediary
Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund
Donor-advised fund used to route Singham contributions
Destination
The People's Forum
NYC 501(c)(3) · Net Assets ~$17.4M (FY 2019) · De Los Santos serves as Executive Director
George Soros → Tides Foundation $3,750,000+ to TPF via Tides Foundation & Tides Center
Alliance for Global Justice $26,894 · Fiscal sponsor / network partner
Major Funder
Tides Foundation
Tides Foundation and Tides Center contributed $3,750,000+ to TPF. Tides is a major progressive philanthropy intermediary funded by George Soros and other major donors. JEF (De Los Santos–linked) received $50K from Tides in 2022.
Fiscal Partner
Alliance for Global Justice
AFGJ serves as fiscal sponsor to 140+ left-wing organizations. Funded by Open Society Foundations. Maintains documented relationships with Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, and Cuban governments.
Foreign Influence
De Los Santos's combination of roles — TPF Executive Director, JEF Director, Tricontinental Researcher, 20+ Venezuela trips, meetings with Díaz-Canel and Maduro, and fundraising under active U.S. sanctions — represents one of the most significant documented foreign-government access patterns in the U.S. activist space.
File 31
Salary & Compensation
$63,125
Last Reported Salary (Form 990, 2018)
$8,190
Benefits (2018)
$71,315
Total Compensation (2018)
$0
Reported in 2024 (Despite Retaining Title)
Name Title Year Reportable Benefits Total
Manolo De Los Santos Executive Director 2018 $63,125 $8,190 $71,315
Manolo De Los Santos Executive Director 2024 $0 — $0

Source: IRS Form 990 — The People's Forum. Note: $0 compensation reported in 2024 despite De Los Santos retaining Executive Director title. Unusual for a full-time senior executive at an organization with $7M+ annual revenue.

Compensation Anomaly
The $0 compensation reported for 2024 while De Los Santos remains Executive Director is highly atypical for a nonprofit of TPF's size. Possible explanations include compensation through related entities not captured in TPF's 990, deferred compensation arrangements, or reporting designed to obscure actual compensation levels.
File 33
Contact & Social
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