Cuba CRISIS: Historian says Cuban people “suffering tremendously”

What this episode is about

Cuba is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis exacerbated by increasing blackouts and soaring living costs, largely due to a U.S. oil blockade. The country's economy, already strained by years of decline and the effects of COVID-19, is collapsing further as essential support mechanisms such as tourism and remittances diminish, leaving the Cuban populace facing tremendous uncertainty and suffering.

Key takeaways

• Cuba is suffering a humanitarian crisis unparalleled since the fall of the Soviet Union; history has a way of repeating itself.
• U.S. sanctions aim to pressure Cuba into economic reform, yet they exacerbate the suffering of its citizens instead.
• The term 'alumbrones' shares a harsh irony; intermittent blackouts now mean more darkness than light for desperate Cubans.
• Cuba's plight reveals a broken strategy: Washington hopes for compliance while Cubans search for a way out.
• With over 2 million Cubans escaping, the island's population is shrinking faster than its economy; a silent diaspora unfolds.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Ted Hankin (Host) · 8 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Cuba, Ted Hankin, Marco Rubio, Venezuela
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Venezuela, Cuba, Cuban Revolution, Marco Rubio
3. 9:00 – 10:13: Venezuela, El Cuartico

Notable quotes from "Cuba CRISIS: Historian says Cuban people “suffering tremendously”"

• Cuba's humanitarian crisis getting worse by the day with intensifying blackouts and skyrocketing flu costs one month into the U.S.-imposed oil blockade.

  about Cuba · at 0:00

• So all the reports that I GET FROM MY CONTACTS ON THE ISLAND AND ALL OF THE OTHER CONTACTS I HAVE IN THE CUBAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY ARE THAT THINGS ARE WORSE THAN EVER.

  about Ted Hankin · at 2:16

• That led up to a resentment, a historic resentment that gave birth to the Cuban revolution.

  about Cuban Revolution · at 4:55

• THERE'S A YOUNG GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO BASICALLY SET UP THEIR OWN YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

  about El Cuartico · at 9:09

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Ted Hankin — Person · Main guest · 1 mention · first at 1:02
  Interviewed as a Cuba scholar to explain on-the-ground impacts of the oil blockade and assess U.S. strategy and likely outcomes.
• Marco Rubio — Person · Referenced policymaker · 2 mentions · first at 0:23
  Cited as the Secretary of State articulating conditional U.S. pressure on Cuba and framing the administration’s stance on easing sanctions and providing aid.
  Rubio wouldn't reveal really the end game here, though he said the Trump administration was willing to provide humanitarian aid.
• Raiden de Coro — Person · Referenced witness / Cuban resident · 1 mention · first at 0:09
  Quoted as an on-the-ground voice describing uncertainty and suffering amid Cuba’s worsening humanitarian conditions.
  A 30-year-old, or 36-year-old named Raiden de Coro told the U.S.-based independent media organization, Belly of the Beast, quote, the future is extremely uncertain, but something has to happen somehow.

Companies & orgs

• El Cuartico — Company · Case study · 1 mention · first at 9:15
  Mentioned as a group of young influencers critical of the Cuban government.
• Belly of the Beast — Company · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at 0:14
  Mentioned as a U.S.-based independent media organization reporting on Cuba.
  A 30-year-old, or 36-year-old named Raiden de Coro told the U.S.-based independent media organization, Belly of the Beast, quote, the future is extremely uncertain, but something has to happen somehow.
• Bloomberg — Company · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at 0:29
  Mentioned as a media outlet where Secretary of State Marco Rubio made statements about Cuba.
  Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a long-time advocate for regime change in Cuba, told Bloomberg that the U.S.

Concepts & topics

• Cuban Revolution — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at 4:58
  Discussed as a historical event that shaped Cuba's current political landscape.

Places & events

• Cuba — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at 0:00
  Primary location discussed in the episode, focusing on its humanitarian crisis and political situation.
• Venezuela — Place · Setting · 4 mentions · first at 2:07
  Mentioned in the context of its support for Cuba and its own political crisis.
  Venezuela, as bad as it was, had media that was oppositional.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Cuba's humanitarian crisis getting worse by the day with intensifying blackouts and skyrocketing flu costs one month into the U.S.-imposed oil blockade. A 30-year-old, or 36-year-old named Raiden de Coro told the U .S.-based independent media organization, Belly of the Beast, quote, the future is extremely uncertain, but something has to happen somehow because we're the ones suffering the most. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a long-time advocate for regime change in Cuba, told Bloomberg that the U.S.

0:30 will ease up its pressure campaign if Cuba opens its economy. Rubio wouldn't reveal really the end game here, though he said the Trump administration was willing to provide humanitarian aid. Mexico has gone ahead on some of that, two ships carrying aid docked in Cuba on Thursday. President Trump has claimed that talks with the Cuban government are underway, but according to five Cuban and American officials who spoke with DropSite News, there are and have been no negotiations involving high-level officials between Havana and Washington.

1:02 Joining us now to discuss all of this is Ted Hankin, Cuban Studies professor at Baruch College. Professor, it's great to have you on the show with us for the first time. Okay, so I want to begin, I guess with what's happening there on the ground. The impact of the oil blockade and the fuel shortage there, what we know about what life has become on the island. Well, the context first is important that Cuba has been in a bad way for decades and especially since COVID. Its main drivers of its economy have evaporated.

1:39 Tourism PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO CUBA, THEY'RE LEAVING CUBA. THERE'S A MASSIVE IMMIGRATION, RIGHT? AND THEN ALL OF THEIR OTHER KIND OF STRATEGIES TO BRINGING MONEY HAVE ALSO EVAPORATED. THEY WOULD SEND DOCTORS AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND LATIN AMERICA. A LOT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S CHANGED AND SO THAT MONEY IS DRYED UP. PEOPLE AREN'T SENDING AS MUCH REMITTANCES. SO THEY'RE ALREADY IN A BAD WAY. THEY HAVE AN UNWORKABLE ECONOMY. THERE'S NOT VERY MUCH INCENTIVE TO DO ANY WORK IN Cuba because the government runs most of the country.

2:07 Then you have teetering Venezuela, the end of Maduro and the end of Venezuela's support of Cuba. So all the reports that I GET FROM MY CONTACTS ON THE ISLAND AND ALL OF THE OTHER CONTACTS I HAVE IN THE CUBAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY ARE THAT THINGS ARE WORSE THAN EVER. THEY'RE WORSE THAN THEY WERE DURING WHAT WAS CALLED THE FALL OF THE SPECIAL PERIOD 20 OR 30 YEARS AGO AFTER THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION. AND THAT MEANS WHAT? THAT MEANS THE MAIN THING THAT IS DIFFERENT THIS TIME IS BLACKOUTS AREN'T JUST, LET'S say six or eight hours a day.

2:40 They call them actually alumbrones because the light is on for less time than it is off. So it's, it's, it's, it's strange that the lights come on, right? There's not enough fuel to get the food that might be coming into the ports or other things that might be coming into the ports to destinations throughout the island. Um, and then there's just a general scarcity of medicine. People aren't going to a job, their jobs because there's no, there's no, there's no fuel and they've cut back on. They have a four day school week. So, um, they're really in a bad way.

3:14 And the people of Cuba are suffering tremendously. And that's on top of suffering that they've been enduring for decades. So then what do you think the end game is here? Because as you point out, we have had sanctions on Cuba for decades. They had Cuban people have been suffering for decades it's unlike in Venezuela it's not clear to me who the like the designated successor would even be right now so how How do you interpret what the strategy is here? What, presumably Marco Rubio, this seems to be his North Star, like what they are actually hoping will happen that will, if they punish the Cuban people just enough, then what happens well this is my fear is that there's not really a clear strategy or an end game it is more uh we're going to hope they say uncle and we're going to keep you know tightening the screws until they do we're going to play psychological games by claiming that there's negotiations when maybe

4:16 there's not negotiations we're going to send TRIAL BALLOONS, LIKE SAY, OH, WE REALLY CARE ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS OR NO, ACTUALLY WHAT WE CARE ABOUT IS ECONOMIC OPENING OR KNOW WHAT WE CARE ABOUT IS DEMOCRATIC OPENING. SO THAT SEEMS TO BE this strategy. Also, there seems to be an ignorance of history, right? We invaded Cuba. We controlled Cuba's government before, and it ended very badly for Cuba. This was like 120 years But people who study history know that Cuba's first independent government was hobbled because it was controlled by the United States that had a veto power over decisions that they would make.

4:55 That led up to a resentment, a historic resentment that gave birth to the Cuban revolution. The Cuban revolution has long since become a Cuban dictatorship, but those lessons of history are required if you are the strongest country in the world with a military that just invaded or just took out the head of a foreign country, Maduro, and now are beating the drums that you may do something similar in Cuba. Cuba is very different in many ways, oppressive, undemocratic like Venezuela, but very different in terms of the power structure, in terms of the resources, and in terms of the essentially the collapse of a functioning society.

5:36 Venezuela, as bad as it was, had media that was oppositional. It has an opposition, right? And And so, and also the Cuban government has been very effective in repressing and then exiling the opposition. About four or five years ago, there was a coalescing opposition. But after THROUGH MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE INTO PRISON. AND THEN THERE WAS THIS MASSIVE WAVE, MORE THAN 2 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE LEFT CUBA SINCE THEN. THE POPULATION has shrunk from 11 to 9 million. And so the opposition that could be relied on for a transition is abroad.

6:21 And so it will be, you know, one thing is to think about how we can, you know, make them say uncle, how we can bring down an authoritarian regime. But then what do you build in its place? Well, what's your sense of the factions among the public and where public opinion lies. I know it's an impossible question to answer, given that we're so limited on what we can know. But based on your contacts, is this making people dig in and be more LOYAL TO THE REGIME, ARE THEY JUST SICK OF IT, READY TO GO? LIKE WHICH THERE'S SO MANY DIFFERENT CAMPS WITHIN, YOU KNOW, THE POPULUS.

7:00 WELL, FOR A LONG TIME, WHAT THE PEOPLE THINK IN CUBA HASN'T MATTERED BECAUSE IT'S NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY, THERE'S not a free press. There aren't the civil liberties that we enjoy in the United States, and then we fight to defend in the United States. The problem is that I think people are so immiserated, so fed up with the regime that they have, that they actually, again, it's speculation, but I would say 70 % of the population wants a change, wants a change of regime. And, and, and, and it's really a kind of a reality show, the government's posturing of sending people out with rifles to defend.

7:38 First of all, in a practical sense, but also the, the morale is get out of Cuba or survive but not fight to defend what they believe in the vast majority of cases in my opinion and in my experience is a dictatorship that represses them even though many people I THINK PEOPLE ARE SKEPTICAL OF WHAT COULD COME FROM FOREIGN INTERVENTION, WHAT COULD COME FROM THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE, I THINK THAT MANY PEOPLE THIS IS DONE AND WHAT COMES CAN'T BE ANY WORSE. I THINK THAT FROM THE FAMILY MEMBERS THAT I TALK TO, THAT RINGS VERY TRUE.

8:16 THERE IS A SMALL MINORITY OF PEOPLE WHO ARE SO TIED IN WITH THE GOVERNMENT AND WITH THE REGIME, THAT THEY HAVE TOO MUCH TO LOSE TO SHIFT COURSE AT THIS POINT. AND I THINK WE'LL KIND OF GO DOWN SWINGING. BUT THERE IS, AT THIS POINT ON THE ISLAND, EVEN A SMALL POPULATION EMERGING THERE THAT HAS ALMOST THE MIAMI-CUBAN MINDSET, ACTUALLY THERE'S SO MUCH ANGER AND RESTLESSNESS OVER IT. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S SORT OF UNHEARD OF. LIKE TO HAVE THE MIAMI POSTURE BUT LIVING ON THE ISLAND WAS NOT REALLY A THING FOR A LONG TIME, AT LEAST IN MY EXPERIENCE.

8:47 NO, BECAUSE YOU WOULD GO RIGHT TO JAIL, YOU WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, INTERROGATED, YOU WOULD BE THREATENED OR YOU WOULD BE SENT INTO EXILE. BUT PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR FEAR. AND THAT HAPPENED FIVE YEARS AGO. THE GOVERNMENT QUASHED THE REBELLIONS, QUASHED THE MARCHES, AND THOUGHT THAT THEY NEUTRALIZED THIS. BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE SYSTEM IS BUILT SO THAT IT CREATES THE OPPOSITION AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. THERE'S A YOUNG GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO BASICALLY SET UP THEIR OWN YOUTUBE CHANNEL. THEY'RE INFLUENCERS. EL CUARTICO IS THE NAME OF THE GROUP AND THEY HAVE THESE BRILLIANT, THEY STARTED OUT UNPOLITICAL BUT THEY GOT MORE AND MORE CRITICAL OF THE GOVERNMENT, MORE AND MORE HONEST, MORE AND MORE WITH A KIND OF MIAMI CRITICAL MINDSET.

9:27 AND THEY JUST GOT PICKED UP ABOUT A WEEK AGO AND NOW THEY'RE BEING TRIED AND SENT TO PRISON. BUT NOW THERE'S A HUGE MOVEMENT CALLING FOR THEIR RELEASE, JUSTICE FOR CUARTICO. SO IT'S A SITUATION THAT'S IN MANY WAYS UNPRECEDENTED, AND THERE'S NOT ANYWHERE TO TURN. THERE'S NO VENEZUELA, RUSSIA, CHINA. THEY'RE NOT THERE TO HELP OUT AS THEY WERE IN THE PAST. TED HANKEN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TONIGHT. GREAT TO HAVE YOUR expertise. My pleasure with all of you. And next, why a blanket is reportedly

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Cuba CRISIS: Historian says Cuban people “suffering tremendously”"?

Ted Hankin (Host).

What is "Cuba CRISIS: Historian says Cuban people “suffering tremendously”" about?

Cuba is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis exacerbated by increasing blackouts and soaring living costs, largely due to a U.S. oil blockade. The country's economy, already strained by years of decline and the effects of COVID-19, is collapsing further as essential support mechanisms such as tourism and remittances diminish, leaving the Cuban populace facing tremendous uncertainty and…

What is mentioned in this MS NOW episode?

9 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Cuba, Ted Hankin, Marco Rubio, Cuban Revolution, Venezuela, El Cuartico. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Cuba CRISIS: Historian says Cuban people “suffering tremendously”"?

The episode runs 10 min; the transcript is about 1,695 words in 16 timestamped sections.

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