Carnegie Endowment 52d ago

There’s been remarkably little public debate about a potential U.S. attack on Cuba. President Trump said last week that he “will be taking over” Cuba “almost immediately”—and similar threats led to military action in both Venezuela and Iran. Javier Corrales, a political scientist at Amherst College and the son of Cuban exiles, joins The World Unpacked to game out this crisis. Javier and host Jon Bateman discuss Cuba’s economic vulnerability, its political staying power, and why Trump might wind up making a deal with the Castros very similar to one made by Barack Obama. Like and subscribe to our channel: https://bit.ly/38sljlH Find the episode transcript and streaming audio, and get the show direct to your inbox, here: https://carnegieendowment.org/podcasts/the-world-unpacked/what-to-know-before-trump-attacks-cuba Host: Follow Jon on X: https://x.com/JonKBateman Guest: Javier Corrales: https://x.com/jcorrales2011 Chapters: 00:00 Cuba War Warning Begins 02:00 Trump’s Cuba Threat Escalates 03:06 “Strangling Cuba” Explained 05:33 Economy Near Total Collapse 07:00 Tourism Crash + Remittances Only 09:02 Why Sanctions Still Fail 10:58 Inside Cuba’s Power Elite 13:52 Is Cuba About To Fall 15:43 Repression vs Rising Dissent 18:36 Why US Cares Cuba 19:44 Military Strike Scenarios Explored 23:59 Venezuela-Style Friendly Takeover 32:32 Obama Deal Irony Returns 45:59 Ethical Dilemma of Intervention The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of international scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and advance peace. Visit our website: https://carnegieendowment.org/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/CarnegieEndow Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carnegieendow/