Why is Cuba in crisis?
3/19/202648 min
Cuba is on the brink of collapse – a scenario that 13 U.S. presidents have tried to engineer with no success. Today on the show, the making of the Cuban crisis and what might come next.
Guests:
Eloy Viera, lawyer and journalist for El Toque
Lillian Guerra, Cuban-American history professor at the University of Florida
Maria De Los Angeles Torres, professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Illinois in Chicago
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
This message comes from Total Wine & More. College basketball's biggest tournament is here, and watch parties are underway. Shop Total Wine & More in store or online to get ready today. Spirits not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. Be twenty-one.
Ramtin Arablouei· Host0:16
Among Cuban Americans in South Florida, expectations are high that after Venezuela and now Iran, Cuba might be next on President Trump's list for regime change.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:26
You know, all my life I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it? I do believe I'll be the honor of, having the honor of taking Cuba. That'd be good hon- That's a big honor.
Speaker 30:40
Taking Cuba?
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:41
Taking Cuba, in some form, yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I could do anything I want with it, you wanna know the truth. They're a very, uh, weakened nation.
Speaker 40:52
For sixty-four years, the US has had an economic embargo on Cuba in hopes that its communist government would fall, but that hasn't happened. The current situation, though, could be different. In January, after the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration blocked Venezuelan oil from going to Cuba, and they made it very costly for any other country to step in to help.
Speaker 51:21
President Trump says Venezuela will no longer send support to Cuba. No oil, no money.
Ramtin Arablouei· Host1:27
And it has also promised tariffs on any country that breaks