Cuba is facing the greatest existential threat it has seen in decades. Trash is filling streets, because garbage trucks can’t make the rounds. Rolling blackouts, rising food prices and cuts to transportation, university classes, and hospitals amid a gas shortage, the likes of which the country hasn’t seen in years.

US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other officials have made it clear that they aren’t interested in anything less than regime change. And they’re going after that goal full throttle. The United States is now imposing an oil blockade on the island nation that is pushing it to the brink – and hitting its most vulnerable residents the hardest.

In this episode, we look at Cuba, the history of the more than 65-year-old US embargo on Cuba and Trump’s actions, which are pushing the country to the brink.

This is Episode 7 of Under the Shadow, Season 2.

Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present. Season 2 responds in real time to the Trump administration’s onslaught on Latin America.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

Many thanks to Belly of the Beast for the interview with Liz Oliva Fernandez and the use of the sound from several of their videos.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Theme music by Michael Fox’s band, Monte Perdido. Monte Perdido's 2024 album Ofrenda is available on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Guests: 

• Liz Oliva Fernandez with Belly of the Beast
• Camila Pineiro
• Medea Benjamin with Code Pink
• Peter Kornbluh with National Security Archives
• Greg Wilpert, founder of Venezuelanalysis

Script editing by Heather Gies. Hosted, written, produced, mixed and edited by Michael Fox.
Resources Please visit Belly of the Beast for their excellent coverage of the situation in Cuba. 

You can see a copy of the Mallory Memo on the National Security Archive’s website: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/cuba/2022-02-02/cuba-embargoed-us-trade-sanctions-turn-sixty This is the 1960 document that created the justification for the Eisenhower’s first sanctions on Cuba. 

Here is the link to Peter Kornbluh’s co-authored book, Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana https://www.amazon.com/Back-Channel-Cuba-Negotiations-Washington-ebook/dp/B00W1VH9LE

To get involved in the flotilla to carry aid to Cuba this month, you can find out more on the Code Pink website, here: https://www.codepink.org/convergecuba

Under the Shadow, Season 1: You can check out the first season of Under the Shadow by clicking here

• The Beginning: Monroe and migration | Under the Shadow, Episode 1
• Panama. US Invasion. | Under the Shadow, Episode 13
• The legacy of Monroe | Under the Shadow, Bonus Episode 4 

Michael Fox’s recent reporting on the boat strikes and the ramp-up for war in Venezuela: 

• With the strike on a ‘drug-carrying boat,’ Trump returns to a dangerous US policy for Latin America
• Caribbean leaders call for unified Latin American resistance to US attacks
• Trump’s Monroe Doctrine 2.0 outlines imperial intentions for Latin America
• You can check out Michael’s recent episode of Stories of Resistance about the protests against US intervention in Venezuela.
• NACLA’s Curated Guide to the US Attack on Venezuela 
• Truthout’s ongoing reporting on War and Peace and the US invasion of Venezuela
• Visit TRNN for all of TRNN’s coverage on this and so much more

Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.


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The US-Israeli war with Iran is spiraling into a regional catastrophe, and the number of dead is rising quickly. While President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the war hawks in their cabinets are responsible for this illegal war, they are not the only ones with blood on their hands. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files, and Adam Johnson, co-host of Citations Needed, about how Western media and American politicians in the Democratic "opposition" have helped manufacture the conditions for war with Iran. 

Guests:

• Abby Martin is an independent journalist, filmmaker, and host of The Empire Files. She is the director of the 2019 documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom and the 2026 documentary Earth’s Greatest Enemy. 
• Adam Johnson is a writer, media critic, co-host of the podcast Citations Needed, and a columnist for TRNN.  

Credits:

• Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

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As general president of the union, Sean O’Brien has operated with a “Teamsters vs. Everybody” mentality, especially when it comes to dealing with President Trump and embracing the MAGA right. But now, 14 months into the second Trump administration, the labor movement and the entire working class—Teamsters members included—is under attack. In this episode of Working People, we speak with veteran Teamsters Richard Hooker Jr. and John Palmer, who are running to oust O’Brien from leadership in the upcoming union election.

Guests: 

• Richard Hooker Jr. has dedicated 26 years to the Teamsters, spending 20 of those years at UPS and the last six in leadership roles. He is the Secretary-Treasurer and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 623 in Philadelphia, and he is now running on the Fearless Slate to unseat Sean O’Brien as a candidate for general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. 
• John Palmer has 38 years of experience in the Teamsters and is currently serving as a vice president at large of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He is running on the Fearless Slate as a candidate to be the union’s general secretary-treasurer.

Additional links/info:

• Teamsters Fearless Slate website
• Hank Kennedy, Current Affairs, “Sean O’Brien sold labor to Trump, and got nothing”
• Michael Sainato, The Guardian, “Labor activist takes on Teamsters leader allying with Trump: ‘He doesn’t represent the workers’”
• Joe Allen, CounterPunch, “Why are the Teamsters endorsing Greg Abbott?”
• Peter Eavis, The New York Times, “UPS says it is cutting up to 30,000 jobs”
• Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “Everybody hates Sean”
• Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “We asked 8 different Teamsters what they thought of Sean O'Brien's speech—their responses may surprise you”

Featured Music:

• Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits:

• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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From the very beginning, the United States of America has been at war—not just abroad, but domestically. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa speaks with scholar and author Dylan Rodríguez about how the US operates as a nation in a perpetual state of internal war, and how the white supremacist legacy of domestic warfare has reached terrifying new heights in the Trump era.

Resource Links:

• Purchase Dylan Rodríguez’s book White Reconstruction
• Revolt against the carceral world
• COVID-19 pandemic illuminates anti-Chinese racism and xenophobia
• Why corporate media doesn’t talk honestly about racism

Credits:

• Producer / Videographer / Editor: Cameron Granadino

Follow Rattling the Bars on Spotify or Apple Podcasts 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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How did the promise of Black wealth become a tool for white elites? In this Black History Month special of Rattling the Bars, Mansa Musa speaks with UVA Professor and author Justene Hill Edwards about the tragic history of the Freedman’s Bank. They dive into the economic intelligence of enslaved people and how they navigated the inherent violence of the slave economy. Professor Hill Edwards also breaks down the betrayal detailed in her book, Savings and Trust, revealing how a bank built for the formerly enslaved was redirected to fund D.C. infrastructure and white elite interests.

Get the book at this link on bookshop.com.

Host: Mansa Musa Videographer / Editor / Producer: Cameron Granadino

Follow Rattling the Bars on Spotify or Apple Podcasts 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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Urged on by Israel and neocon war hawks, President Trump has brought the US to the verge of a war with Iran, amassing more American military forces in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, about the disastrous ramifications such a war would have—and what options remain to avoid it. 

Guests:

• Trita Parsi is an Iranian-born Swedish writer and policy analyst and the co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is an award-winning author and the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy, and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has authored four books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel. 

Additional links/info:

• Trita Parsi, Common Dreams, “How does this end? Even a ‘small’ US strike on Iran by Trump would be disastrous”
• Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “Jeremy Scahill: Prospects for avoiding US-Iran war ‘remain fragile’”

Credits:

• Producer: Rosette Sewali
• Studio Production: David Hebden
• Audio Post-Production: Stephen Frank

Follow The Marc Steiner Show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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In just six months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than tripled the amount of data stored on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform,The Guardian reports, “at the same time that its arsenal of surveillance technology ballooned.” This week, tech workers with the No Azure for Apartheid (NOAA) campaign staged a protest and informational picket at Microsoft’s global headquarters in Redmond, WA, demanding that Microsoft cancel all contracts that provide technological support for Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and ICE’s campaign of terror in the US. We speak with Ibtihal, a former software engineer at Microsoft and an organizer with the NOAA campaign. 

Additional links/info: 

• No Azure for Apartheid Instagram and Linktree
• Harry Davies & Yuval Abraham, The Guardian, “ICE reliance on Microsoft technology surged amid immigration crackdown, documents show”
• Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “‘Microsoft workers refuse to be complicit in the genocide’”
• Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “Microsoft cancels Israeli spy unit access after tech worker revolt”
• Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “The biggest labor story in the US right now is happening at Microsoft”

Featured Music: 

• Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits: 

• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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With President Trump marshaling the largest buildup of US military forces in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the threat of an imminent conflict—or even a major war—between the US and Iran is ever present. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with journalist Jeremy Scahill of DropSite news about where things stand now, the fragile state of this week’s talks between the US and Iran, and all that hangs in the balance. 

Guest: 

• Jeremy Scahill is an independent journalist, author and filmmaker. He is co-founder of the investigative news organization Drop Site News. Scahill is author of the international best-selling books Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army and Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield. His film, Dirty Wars, won widespread acclaim and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2013 for Best Documentary Feature.

Additional links/info: 

• Jeremy Scahill & Murtaza Hussain, DropSite News, “Iranian officials to Drop Site: Tehran is showing “unbelievable level of flexibility" in talks to prevent US war”

Credits:

• Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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Bending to economic coercion and political pressure from the Trump administration, once-venerable institutions like Columbia University have compliantly become third-party collaborators in the assault on our constitutional rights. In this episode of the Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with Amy E. Greer and Zal K. Shroff, two members of former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team, about how the persecution of Khalil and other Palestine solidarity protestors is reshaping the future of free speech in America.

Guests:

• Amy E. Greer is an associate attorney at Dratel & Lewis, and a member of Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team. Greer is a lawyer and archivist by training, and an advocate and storyteller by nature. As an attorney at Dratel & Lewis, she works on a variety of cases, including international extradition, RICO, terrorism, and drug trafficking. She previously served as an assistant public defender on a remote island in Alaska, defending people charged with misdemeanors, and as a research and writing attorney on capital habeas cases with clients who have been sentenced to death.
• Zal K. Shroff is an assistant professor at CUNY School of Law and director of the Equality & Justice In-House & Practice Clinic. Shroff is a civil rights lawyer and has been a lead attorney in more than two dozen impact cases across the United States spanning police and prosecutorial accountability, voting rights, First Amendment protest/political speech, race and religious discrimination, conditions of confinement, and poverty discrimination.

Additional links/info:

• Marc Steiner, The Marc Steiner Show / TRNN, “Trump’s government hasn’t won its case against Mahmoud Khalil—yet”
• Maximillian Alvarez, TRNN, “‘Call Amy!’: Lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil reveals how he won his freedom”

Credits:

• Producer: Rosette Sewali
• Studio Production: David Hebden
• Audio Post-Production: Stephen Frank

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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In this episode of Inequality Watch, investigative journalists Taya Graham and Stephen Janis are joined by renowned economist Dr. Richard Wolff to break down how extreme wealth inequality is reshaping politics, economics, and democracy itself. First, Dr. Wolff explains how extractive economies concentrate wealth, fuel authoritarianism, and lock societies into destructive systems that benefit the ultra-rich while leaving working people behind. He then examines questions about the future of AI—can an economy still survive when millions are displaced from work? Who benefits and who pays the price?

Credits:

• Written by: Stephen Janis
• Produced by: Taya Graham, Stephen Janis
• Post-Production: David Hebden

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

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