Where this was said
Will Grant Interview: Cuba's Humanitarian Crisis Under Trump's Fuel Cutoff
At 1:04:32 · chapter starts 1:01:40
Tommy introduces Will Grant, the BBC's Mexico, Central America, and Cuba correspondent, who lived in Cuba for seven years beginning in 2014 and has just returned from a reporting trip. Grant draws a stark before-and-after: under the Obama opening he witnessed genuine optimism, a sense that the Cold War might truly be ending, and real dynamism among young Cubans. Today, after a series of policy reversals under Trump's first term, Biden, and now Trump's second term, Cuba is in survival mode. Since Maduro's forced removal in January caused Venezuela's oil supply to be cut off, and with Mexico under US pressure not to fill the gap, only one Russian shipment of 830,000 barrels has arrived. Cuba is producing nowhere near enough domestically. The consequences: no cars on the roads, long and arduous blackouts, hospitals running at a fraction of capacity accepting only emergencies, schools closed multiple days a week, state businesses shuttered, garbage trucks not running. Summer is approaching — heat, mosquitoes, no air conditioning or fans. Grant calls it 'incredibly bleak and actively getting worse week after week' [1] — Will Grant "Since Venezuela's oil supply was cut and only one Russian shipment has arrived, Cuba has no cars on the streets, hospitals accepting only e…" 1:02:40 .
Since Venezuela's oil supply was cut and only one Russian shipment has arrived, Cuba has no cars on the streets, hospitals accepting only emergencies, schools closed multiple days a week, and garbage piling up. Summer heat and mosquitoes are coming. BBC correspondent Will Grant says it is 'incredibly bleak and actively getting worse.'
Since Venezuela's oil tap was turned off, Cuba has received only one shipment of 830,000 barrels from Russia, leaving the island desperately short of fuel.
Cuba's hospitals are running at a fraction of their capacity due to fuel and power shortages, with only emergency cases accepted in many facilities during blackouts.
