Embargo and the Cuban spirit

May 30, 2026 · 28 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of the US embargo on Cuba and the situation of political prisoners in Iran.

Last week, the American government charged the former Cuban leader, Raúl Castro, with conspiracy to kill US nationals. They accuse him of playing a part in the downing of two planes in 1996, which were flying between Cuba and Florida. This comes after months of the US putting increasing pressure on the country. In January, President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on any country who supplied oil to the island, resulting in huge energy shortages ever since, with some parts of the country being without power for 22 hours a day. But Cubans have been living under a strict trade embargo for decades, so they are not unfamiliar with such hardships. José Carlos Cueto López of BBC Mundo is from Cuba, and knows exactly what it's like for people living in such challenging circumstances. The UN says that at least 32 political prisoners have been executed in Iran since February this year. The UN's Human Rights Office has warned that the death penalty is increasingly being used to silence political dissent. Last year, Iran carried out 2,159 executions according to Amnesty International, the highest number since 1981. The Iranian government says that the vast majority are for drugs related…

People in this episode

Guests: José Carlos Cueto López, Ghoncheh Habibiazad

Topics covered

Cuban embargo
political prisoners
US-Cuba relations
human rights
energy shortages
executions in Iran

Keywords

Cuba
Raúl Castro
embargo
political prisoners
Iran
executions
human rights
energy shortages

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: American government, UN, BBC Mundo, Iran, UN's Human Rights Office, Amnesty International, BBC Persian, BBC World Service

Places: Cuba, Florida