Cuba Analysis

Cuba Analysis
  • 5.0 (2)
  • History

Think you know Cuba? Think again. Since the Revolution of 1959, Cuba has defied expectations and flouted the rules. It is a country of contradictions. A poor country with world-leading human development indicators. A small island that mobilises the world’s largest international humanitarian assistance. A weak and dependent economy which has survived economic crises and the United States blockade - the longest and most extensive system of unilateral sanctions applied against any country in modern history. Anachronistic but innovative. Traditional but creative. Formally ostracised, but with millions of defenders around the world. Despite meeting most of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Cuba’s socialist development strategy is not upheld as an example. We’re going beyond the headlines to explore those contradictions. Using sources you never see and speaking to specialists you never hear from. On Cuba Analysis, we dissect the facts. We put things in context. Get to the root of the issue. We challenge assumptions and ask: Who’s shaping the narrative? Who benefits from the story? Join us. This is Cuba Analysis.

  1. 15h ago

    Interview with Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla

    Note: English subtitles on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqlQhqvNnqM 🇨🇺 🎙️ In this episode of Cuba Analysis podcast, Helen Yaffe and Nina Blodau speak with Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, about life under the US blockade. He details the 2026 escalation of US economic warfare: new executive orders, an oil siege 🛢️🚫, and expanded sanctions. The Minister highlights the doubled infant mortality rate, 7,000 blocked shipping containers 🚢🔒, and open #usa military threats. Rejecting claims that Cuba threatens US security, he denounces fabrications by Secretary of State #MarcoRubio and reflects on Cuba’s resilience and a future based on dialogue and respect for sovereignty. Alongside economic warfare, the US government has openly threatened a military attack. The Minister confirms that Cubans take these threats seriously and warns that any US military action would result in a bloodbath on both sides, with devastating consequences for the wider Caribbean. Rodríguez Parrilla rejects outright the labelling of Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and as a threat to US national security. He points to lies and fabrications by US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and argues that only ‘a small group of corrupt politicians’ would benefit from the destruction of Cuba. After almost seven decades of US attempts to force political change in Cuba, why has the policy failed? The Minister reflects on Cuba’s resilience and on the possibility of a future based on dialogue, sovereignty, mutual respect and cooperation between neighbours. This episode of Cuba Analysis podcast was produced in collaboration with Belly of the Beast Cuba: https://www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/

    Interview with Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla

  2. Jul 26

    Interview with Professor Isaac Saney on the US State Department's anti-Cuba report

    Interview with Professor Isaac Saney on the US State Department's anti-Cuba report and its implications. In this episode of the Cuba Analysis Podcast, co-hosts Helen Yaffe and Nina Blodau speak with Professor Isaac Saney, a Black Studies and Cuba specialist, historian, professor at Dalhousie University, author of two books about Cuba, and spokesperson for the Canadian Network on Cuba, which is among many groups named in the new US State Department report ‘Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism’. Professor Saney breaks down the 100-page report which, despite lacking evidence, depicts Cuba as a global subversive force guiding the US and international left over decades. Saney explains that the objectives of this McCarthyite document are to justify the genocidal US blockade and lay the groundwork for future military aggression, as well as to revive Cold War-era repression of the left domestically and beyond. We discuss the suffocating US sanctions imposed in 2026, their impact on Cuba’s economy and the population’s access to essential goods, and the muted international response. Professor Saney points out that 136 countries voted against the US blockade at the UN, despite US pressure, although Canada and several EU countries shamefully abstained. We also talk about Cuba’s historic contribution to African liberation struggles, with a focus on Cuba’s support of the struggle for Angolan independence and the defeat of the invading South African army, which contributed to the end of Apartheid – the focus of Isaac’s book, Cuba, Africa, and Apartheid's End. This historic contribution is ignored in the State Department report, which Saney describes as a white supremacist. Saney concludes by calling for more concrete international solidarity with Cuba, arguing that defending Cuban sovereignty, self-determination and socialist development, is also a defence of international law, opposition to normalisation of genocide and resistance to imperialism. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQG8E8_UsDo

    Interview with Professor Isaac Saney on the US State Department's anti-Cuba report

  3. Jun 14

    Interview with anti-imperialist journalist and filmmaker, Abby Martin

    In this episode of the Cuba Analysis Podcast, Helen Yaffe and Nina Blodau speak to radical journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin from The Empire Files about the intensifying US war on Cuba, the human cost of the decades-long blockade, political consciousness and how Cuba has resisted US imperialism. Abby tells us about her first experience of visiting Cuba and, more recently, of interviewing Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel for the new documentary Cuba After Castro, which undermines US propaganda aimed at manufacturing consent for an attack. Abby draws the connections between Cuba, Palestine, and Venezuela, and underscores the importance of solidarity for all those struggling against US imperialism, including domestically. Follow @CubaAnalysis on Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, and YouTube for more episodes and analysis. 🇨🇺 #CubaAnalysis #CubaPodcast #CubaSolidarity #Cuba #CubaHistory #CubaStudies #AbbyMartin #TheEmpireFiles ‪@EmpireFiles‬

    Interview with anti-imperialist journalist and filmmaker, Abby Martin

  4. May 23

    Interview with Zue Jernstedt, US veteran turned anti-war activist

    In the next episode of Cuba’s Analysis podcast, Nina Blodau speaks with US army veteran Zue Jernstedt, who served in Afghanistan before leaving the army and becoming an anti-imperialist activist. Zue has worked as a human rights observer in the West Bank, participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza, and organised with anti-ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) groups in the United States. In March 2026, she met the Cuba Analysis team in Havana during the Nuestra América Global Convoy of international activists who came together to oppose US threats of military aggression against Cuba and to demand an end to the US blockade, recently compounded by a genocidal oil siege.  The conversation connects anti-imperialist struggles in Cuba and Palestine to the US domestic front. Zue discusses how the US military exploits poverty as a recruitment tool, the role of the naval base in illegally occupied Guantanamo Bay as a site for torture, US support for the genocidal Israeli state, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war. She reflects on her own political awakening in Afghanistan, where she realised that far from bringing democracy and women’s rights, the US were pursuing its own imperialist interests. This same logic now targets Cuba, she says, not with bombs but with a blockade that starves the population. More recently, Trump has also threatened Cuba with military attack.  Zue contrasts propaganda about Cuba with the reality she experienced on the ground: free universal healthcare, a strong sense of community, and a society which, despite crushing sanctions, still cares for each other.  Her story is ultimately a call to action. She urges international audiences not to remain passive in the face of imperialism: to engage, to challenge, and to disrupt complacency. As she puts it, “We shall overcome – our day will come. It is absolutely inevitable that we rise up.” Follow us for updates and new episodes: Website: https://www.cubanalysis.org Social: @cubanalysis Instagram / Facebook / Telegram / YouTube / TikTok Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/cubanalysisspotify Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../cuba-analysis/id1846065440

    Interview with Zue Jernstedt, US veteran turned anti-war activist

  5. Apr 19

    Interview with Cuban Ambassador Ismara Vargas Walter

    In this episode of Cuba Analysis, Helen Yaffe sits down with Cuban Ambassador Ismara Mercedes Vargas Walter to discuss recent and escalating threats from the US government under President Trump. These include the designation of Cuba as a threat to US national security, the imposition of an oil blockade, and the threat of military aggression to enforce regime change. The conversation explores the human cost of these measures, from energy shortages and blackouts to the damage inflicted on Cuba’s public healthcare and education systems. These coercive measures expose the real strategy behind US policy towards since 1960, as outlined in a secret memo written by US diplomat Lester Mallory advocating economic warfare to provoke “hunger, desperation and overthrow of government”.  The Ambassador explains how the extraterritorial reach of the US blockade obstructs British entities - from individuals to banks - engaging with Cuba. These restrictions disrupt trade, finance, and everyday diplomatic operations; even the daily functioning of the Cuban embassy in London is affected. This is despite more than a century of stable Cuba-UK relations, spanning from diplomacy to co-operation in science and culture. Despite these challenges, Ambassador Vargas Walter emphasises Cuba’s resilience, highlighting a rapid shift towards renewable energies, strong popular unity and an ongoing commitment to sovereignty and self-determination.  The episode closes by highlighting Cuba’s global contributions in healthcare and education and underscoring why international solidarity to defend Cuba is so important right now. Follow us for updates and new episodes: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIjujJoi8ck 🌐 Website: https://www.cubanalysis.org  📱 Social: @cubanalysis  Instagram / Facebook / Telegram / YouTube / TikTok  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cuba-analysis/id1846065440 #CubanNews #CubaInPerspective #CubanFacts #CubaSolidarity #Cuba #CubaStudies #CubaHistory

    Interview with Cuban Ambassador Ismara Vargas Walter

  6. Feb 12

    Interview with Alan MacLeod

    In this episode of the Cuba Analysis Podcast, Helen Yaffe and Nina Blodau talk to Alan MacLeod about the Trump administration’s use of propaganda, misinformation and psychological warfare to facilitate regime change in Cuba and Venezuela. MacLeod is a researcher and investigative journalist for MintPress News, and author of ‘Bad News from Venezuela: 20 Years of Fake News and Misreporting’, based on his PhD thesis. Through interviewing the western journalists posted in Caracas, MacLeod’s research showed that they acted as ‘ideological foot soldiers’ for US imperialism, deliberately manufacturing consent for regime change. MacLeod tells us how one journalist, who he names in the podcast, admitted to planting fake news about Venezuela, describing himself as ‘mercenary for hire’. He traces how this playbook of distortion, exemplified in propaganda against Cuba and Venezuela, creates a false reality for the general public, one where fake narratives about ‘narco-states’ and ‘authoritarian dictatorships’ counter the hard evidence from institutions like the United Nations. The conversation connects the dots between the role of individual journalists, media platforms, think tanks, US government funding and Miami-based opposition leaders, revealing a coordinated campaign aimed at overthrowing sovereign governments. He describes the merging in Southern Florida of the right-wing opponents of the Cuban and Venezuelan revolutionary states who receive generous funding under regime change programmes. We discuss the sordid trajectory of the opposition leaders, people such as María Corina Machado from Venezuela, and Cuban American politicians Marco Rubio, and María Elvira Salazar, who promote violence and US intervention. MacLeod shows how information warfare lays the groundwork for economic and military aggression. This episode is a masterclass in media deconstruction and a vital tool for anyone seeking to understand the battle over truth and sovereignty in Latin America. It is also a stirring appeal for genuine international solidarity. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE58GqF9fv8

    Interview with Alan MacLeod

  7. Feb 3

    Interview with Dr Emily Morris, development economist and Honorary Senior Researcher

    In this episode of Cuba Analysis Podcast, we speak to Dr Emily Morris, a development economist and Honorary Senior Research Associate at the University College London, whose work provides essential insights into the structure and functioning of Cuba’s economy. This episode offers a deep dive beyond headlines and talking points, as Dr Morris guides us through the ‘perfect storm’ confronting Cuba today.   She explains why there is such scarcity of food, fuel and medical supplies, and why inflation has been so high and persistent despite government controls in the socialist economy. She describes the overlapping effects of the pandemic, domestic currency reform, tightening of US sanctions and ‘over-compliance’ in the international financial sector - factors that have combined to produce a sustained and deep economic crisis, resulting in prolonged electricity blackouts, goods shortages and large-scale emigration. She also examines how US sanctions weaponise international finance and trade, obliging banks to block transactions with Cuba and ships to turn away from Cuban ports, and pushing Cuba into deeper economic partnerships with Russia and China. We also discuss the complexities and reliability of Cuban economic data.   Dr Morris’ career has bridged academia, analysis for the Economist Intelligence Unit, and hands-on development partnerships in Cuba. First drawn to study Cuba because of its position as an economic outlier, operating outside conventional development models, she gathered rich data and insights in the 1990s into how Cuba survived the Special Period, which became the topic of her doctoral thesis. She was a close observer of the impact of the 1996 Helms Burton Act, which significantly tightened the US blockade and strengthened its extraterritorial impact, extending US sanctions to the rest of the world and deterring foreign investors.   Dr Morris highlights inspiring examples of innovation emerging within these constraints. We get an insider’s view of collaborative projects she is helping to facilitate, from Cuban scientists turning landfill methane into energy to pioneering next-generation battery technology and developing sustainable urban transit plans.   This episode provides an antidote to politicised mainstream commentary which attributes Cuba’s economic problems solely to government mismanagement and inefficiency. It offers a grounded and accessible perspective on the complexities of economic sovereignty, highlighting the island’s resilience and potential to serve as a case study for development from below.   YouTube:https://youtu.be/fcbpn9S0ZyM?si=pZ9cvlKNhuVm9hrr

    Interview with Dr Emily Morris, development economist and Honorary Senior Researcher

  8. Jan 10

    Interview with Vijay Prashad: Cuba, the Tricontinental, and National Liberation Socialism

    Historian and Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, Vijay Prashad, joins Cuba Analysis to examine Cuba’s revolutionary endurance, the legacy of the Tricontinental movement, and the ongoing global struggle against imperialism. With the 60th anniversary of the Tricontinental Conference taking place in January 2026 at the University of Havana (12–14 January), Prashad calls for renewed debate on South–South solidarity and internationalism. Prashad reflects on his first visit to Cuba during the Special Period of the 1990s, when the collapse of the Soviet Union plunged the island into severe economic crisis. He argues that Cuba’s survival under extreme pressure revealed a central political truth: socialism, when confronted by empire, becomes an essential defence of sovereignty, dignity, and collective survival. We discuss the historic 1966 Tricontinental Conference in Havana, which united revolutionary movements from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and laid the foundations for anti-imperialist internationalism. Prashad explains how the conference fused the Bandung Movement’s demand for sovereignty with Marxism’s commitment to human dignity, forging a tradition of national liberation socialism that continues to shape struggles across the Global South. Prashad delivers a sharp analysis of ongoing U.S. aggression against Cuba, identifying the blockade as the central human rights violation—an illegal and permanent siege aimed at undermining the Cuban Revolution. He situates today’s economic crisis within a “permanent Special Period” driven by sanctions, financial warfare, and political isolation, and calls for stronger international solidarity, particularly from Latin America and the BRICS countries. He stresses that defending Venezuela is inseparable from defending Cuba. The conversation also explores the continued relevance of Marxist analysis, critiques moralistic and idealist tendencies on the left, and highlights the importance of understanding history’s contradictions and reversals in the long struggle for social transformation. This episode offers a rigorous political and historical analysis of Cuba’s revolutionary project and its international significance, through the lens of one of the most influential critical thinkers of our time.  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggYOvUyNbU4

    Interview with Vijay Prashad: Cuba, the Tricontinental, and National Liberation Socialism
See All (13)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Think you know Cuba? Think again. Since the Revolution of 1959, Cuba has defied expectations and flouted the rules. It is a country of contradictions. A poor country with world-leading human development indicators. A small island that mobilises the world’s largest international humanitarian assistance. A weak and dependent economy which has survived economic crises and the United States blockade - the longest and most extensive system of unilateral sanctions applied against any country in modern history. Anachronistic but innovative. Traditional but creative. Formally ostracised, but with millions of defenders around the world. Despite meeting most of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Cuba’s socialist development strategy is not upheld as an example. We’re going beyond the headlines to explore those contradictions. Using sources you never see and speaking to specialists you never hear from. On Cuba Analysis, we dissect the facts. We put things in context. Get to the root of the issue. We challenge assumptions and ask: Who’s shaping the narrative? Who benefits from the story? Join us. This is Cuba Analysis.

Information

  • Creator
    Cuba Analysis
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Cuba Analysis
  • Show Website
    Cuba Analysis

You Might Also Like