Belly of The Beast Cuba.- Secretary of State Marco Rubio blames the migration crisis on Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which he called “enemies of humanity.” His rhetoric echoes John Bolton’s “Troika of Tyranny” label 5 years earlier. The reality is U.S. sanctions – endorsed by Rubio and Bolton – have been a major contributor to increased migration from these three countries.

Belly of The Beast Cuba.- David (Che) Sarzo has been a tourism worker since 2010, driving or guiding tourists in classic American cars. He benefited from Obama’s opening with Cuba, which brought about a boom in the industry. “Those were the golden years for Cuba’s tourism,” said Sarzo. “The whole city benefited. The country’s economy grew.” But when Trump and Biden’s reversed Obama’s policies and increased sanctions, it became hard for Sarzo to get a fare. He is expecting things to get even worse. “Right now, all of Cuba is in fear of Trump’s return to office,” he said.

Belly of The Beast Cuba.- As Chair of the United States Agricultural Coalition for Cuba, Paul Johnson has been trying to encourage Cuba-U.S. agricultural trade for years. But U.S. sanctions have stood in the way. During Obama’s historic opening, the two countries began talking about new ways to collaborate. But the rollback of Obama’s policy under Trump and Biden has made any progress difficult. “I would like to see a serious discussion, not only at how the United States agricultural producers can increase their exports. We believe we can quadruple the amount of exports that we currently do. There would be a readily available market for Cuban products in the United States,” Johnson says.

Belly of The Beast Cuba.- Dr. Mitchell Valdes-Sosa was born in the U.S., but he’s one of Cuba’s top scientists. As the director of the Cuban Center for Neuroscience, he was involved in talks to further scientific collaboration between Cuba and the U.S. during Obama’s historic opening with Cuba. But this collaboration died with Trump and Biden’s change of policy toward Cuba. “The U.S. is a bully. They're trying to isolate and destroy the Cuban scientific community,” Dr. Valdes-Sosa says.