Cuba Analysis

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/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBEwRmRpS2R3VDRQQjIwZlNjRXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5QxrxnwZV7sJL3KtiHBNk6PlA7Bh_LgqwfsNXsQQHSlEnNGkp0yt9m7F07ig_aem_YOV62BgTvJ8K1QqV5W8f7Qhttps://www.cubanalysis.org [https://www.cubanalysis.org] Social: @cubanalysis Instagram / Facebook / Telegram / YouTube / TikTok Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/cubanalysisspotify?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBEwRmRpS2R3VDRQQjIwZlNjRXNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7v3nsT4NE_KDW_gC2NBiqCTDQGbZwQhFjKR1DaXQgGaw8Snb4Lga-c_t7sHw_aem_muqbd8BRI_XijOALZWdELwhttps://tinyurl.com/cubanalysisspotify [https://tinyurl.com/cubanalysisspotify] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../cuba-analysis/id1846065440 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cuba-analysis/id1846065440]

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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIjujJoi8ck] 🌐 Website: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa0Q3Z2dwNjFocFdnS1JwOU5CbGVtb2R5YVdPQXxBQ3Jtc0tsemdKaHNuamN5U2lZTFZLMXE0enJMV085ZG9FV1ZSem5MY2RPM0tWUEhHeURoQmxHaHpSc3R1REpqU3ZBbVF5dTB1VlVGSkE2WUtxNUtRV0lXeVRra0gtcjJaV0FVWjN2Zkc1Q2lUZm5ac0JyOFZ6TQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cubanalysis.org%2F&v=ZIjujJoi8ckhttps://www.cubanalysis.org [https://www.cubanalysis.org]  📱 Social: @cubanalysis  Instagram / Facebook / Telegram / YouTube / TikTok  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cuba-analysis/id1846065440 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cuba-analysis/id1846065440] #CubanNews [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cubannews] #CubaInPerspective [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cubainperspective] #CubanFacts [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cubanfacts] #CubaSolidarity [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cubasolidarity] #Cuba [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cuba] #CubaStudies [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cubastudies] #CubaHistory [https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/cubahistory]

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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE58GqF9fv8]

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 [https://youtu.be/fcbpn9S0ZyM?si=pZ9cvlKNhuVm9hrr]

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 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggYOvUyNbU4]