US officials and their corporate media mouthpieces were elated at the sight of protests in Cuba in recent days against deteriorating living conditions that are a direct result of the US blockade, which Trump increased and Biden has maintained during the pandemic to deliberately heighten suffering at a time when Cuba was sending doctors around the world to fight the disease.

As is often the case when an adversary country experiences protests of any kind, it was immediately weaponized to push for a regime change narrative against Cuba. There's so much to unpack, from the protest double standards, to the blatant efforts at meddling and sabotage, to the pure hypocrisy from those in power. 

To help make sense of it all, Rania Khalek was joined by Manolo De Los Santos, founder & co-director of The People's Forum in New York City and a researcher with Tricontinental who spent six years living in Cuba.