# Cuba instead? Trump ups pressure on Havana as Iran campaign stalls

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-debate-1101606/cuba-instead-trump-ups-pressure-on-havana-as-iran-campaign-stalls
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-debate-1101606/cuba-instead-trump-ups-pressure-on-havana-as-iran-campaign-stalls.md
Podcast: [The Debate](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-debate-1101606)
Published: 2026-05-18T18:13:39+00:00
Episode link: https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-debate/20260518-cuba-instead-trump-ups-pressure-on-havana-as-iran-campaign-stalls?PcNCvtcnHj
Audio file: https://audio.audiomeans.fr/pfx/b035a7c4-de15-11ef-9e7b-cfc4fb0c91f4/vod-france24.akamaized.net/en/vod/2026/05/18/TK064197-A-01-20260511.mp3?guid=6f70b36a-52e4-11f1-9362-a5cc1b538fb0&source=PcNCvtcnHj
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-debate-1101606/episodes/cuba-instead-trump-ups-pressure-on-havana-as-iran-campaign-stalls
Duration seconds: 2643

## Resource

If Venezuela proved easier than Iran – where Donald Trump's still looking for a win – could that explain why the attention seems to be turning to Cuba? The United States last week dispatched its CIA director to Havana and offered aid, all the while its crippling blockade is plunging the Communist island nation in the dark. We talk about carrots and sticks in the latest of a long, very long list of US pressure campaigns. History is littered by failed US attempts at regime change in Cuba, dating all the way back to 1959 and the revolution led by Fidel Castro – who would have turned 100 this year. We ask our panel if this time is any different for a regime that has survived embargoes and the end of the Cold War, the decline of agriculture and sugar cane exports, as well as successive waves of mass emigration. In this standoff, Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been front and center. Just how much does the US secretary of state's push jibe with what citizens of Cuba want or need? Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Juliette Brown, Charles Wente.

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## Transcript

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