Ada Ferrer

In 1898, you get the Spanish-American War in which the U.S.

intervenes in Cuba.

Most Americans may not realize that what preceded that was 30 years of struggle for Cuban independence.

And the U.S.

went in, but then it, you know, it staged a military occupation for almost four years and left only when Cuba was willing to accept something called the Platt Amendment, which gave the U.S.

the right of intervention.

The revolution happened in 1959, and the U.S.

tried to intervene again at multiple points.

You know, you had the Bay of Pigs.

April 1961, a CIA-sponsored invasion of Cuba, which was manned by Cuban exiles.

And, you know, before it happened, I thought of this when Trump was kind of suggesting that Marco Rubio might be the next president of Cuba.

At the time, people in Washington, you know, in the White House were slapping themselves on the back saying Bobby Kennedy was going to be the next mayor of Havana, right?

These kinds of predictions are not unprecedented.

So in some sense, that's part of the background.

That's why any historical knowledge makes you skeptical of a statement like Trump's.

You have family still in Cuba?

I have, yes.

I have family still in Cuba.

Well, I mean, a lot of the conversations, some conversations are about, you know, health, right?

I have a cousin right now in the hospital.