What in the World - People in Cuba are living in the dark

Download People in Cuba are living in the dark

For more than three months, Cuba has been struggling under an oil blockade by the United States. It had been getting a lot of its oil from Venezuela, but President Trump put a stop to that.

People in Cuba have been living with all kinds of shortages for decades - food, medicine and of course, oil. This blockade though has made things even more tough and people say they’re exhausted. Santiago Vanegas Maldonado, from the What in the World team, brings us voices of young Cubans who are upset about how their lives have changed and the BBC’s Jose Carlos Cueto Lopez, who is from Havana, takes us through the background to the blockade and what it’s like for people in Cuba.

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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: Santiago Vanegas Maldonado, Chelsea Coates, Emily Horler and Maria Clara Montoya
Editor: Harriet Oliver

Published on Monday, 20th April 2026.

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