December 17 - American Corporations Cave in to North Korean Terrorist Threats; A New Chapter in U.S. / Cuban Relations; Will the Lives of Cubans Improve or the Profits of Multi-Nationals?

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the cave-in to North Korean terrorist threats invoking 9/11 by America’s largest movie theater companies who are refusing to show the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy “The Interview” due out at Christmas. Sung Yoon Lee, a Professor of International Affairs at the Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts University and an Associate in Research at the Korea Institute at Harvard University, joins us to discuss the disgraceful abdication of freedom of speech and capitulation by American corporations to ludicrous and empty threats from a criminal regime with almost no presence or supporters in the United States, while beyond rhetoric, according to the Department of Homeland Security, there is “no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot”.

Part 2

Then we examine the historic shift in U.S. foreign policy announced today by President Obama, heralding a new chapter in U.S./Cuban relations following a 45 minute phone call on Monday with Cuba’s president Raul Castro and active intervention by the Pope to bring about a prisoner swap that opened the door for the breakthrough to end a dysfunctional almost seventy year-long frozen relationship. Arturo Lopez Levy, who worked as a political analyst for the Cuban government and is now a consultant to the New America Foundation and the Inter-American Dialogue about Cuba and American Policy towards Latin America, joins us to discuss the beginning of normalization between the United States and Cuba.

Part 3

Then finally, we look into what a renewal of relations with Cuba might mean, particularly in terms of U.S. investments in Cuba and whether this will improve the lives of Cubans or increase the wealth of multi-national companies building mega-ports and tourist hotels. Luis Martinez-Fernandez, a Professor of History at the University of Central Florida who focuses on the histories of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, joins us to discuss his concerns that Cuba could be re-colonized and his new book “Revolutionary Cuba: A History”.