Introduction

I never initially intended to gather these interviews into a book. The value of these conversations from a historical perspective, and as a story of economic development, inspired me to do so. I realized they presented an “open window” into a nation perceived by the Americans as “shuttered” to the outside world for fifty years. It is this perspective from the shores of an America that does not look beyond itself, adding only to the ‘mystique’ of the Island of Cuba. This chapter transports the reader from the Obama to the Trump eras, and then, to the unfulfilled campaign promises of the Biden presidency. It observes the disastrous U.S. legacy against Cuba, and the intentions of the US embargo, which continue to this day. It is an analysis of how a propaganda campaign quietly lays out the seeds of itself to fulfill the goals of government agendas. It observes the Covid pandemic as an unexpected bonus for Trump, and the quiet closure of the Havana syndrome scheme, as it vanishes into the ether. These interviews occurred between 2016 and 2022 in London, Washington, DC, Toronto, Ottawa, and Havana.