Is Cuba a safe haven for Hamas and Hezbollah?

Donald Trump made several allegations against Cuba as he enacted an executive order blocking oil shipments to the island on Thursday, but one took Cubans completely by surprise. His claim that Cuba acts as a safe haven for Hamas and Hezbollah has been dismissed as complete nonsense by Cubans, just one in a “long list of lies” says the Cuban government.

There are, in fact, hundreds of Palestinians in Cuba, but they’re here training to be doctors, alongside medical students from over 100 countries at the Latin American School of Medicine.

We asked them what they thought of Trump’s claims.

TRANSCRIPT

“As U.S. President Donald Trump unleashes a new stage of economic warfare against Cuba, he’s been laying out his justifications. Cuba’s government has dismissed them as “a long list of lies,” but one of his accusations in particular has taken everyone by surprise,” explained Hassan Ghani, journalist with Belly of the Beast.

“Donald Trump is now claiming that Cuba is a safe haven for Hamas and Hezbollah,” “Cubans we spoke with say that’s nonsense, even laughable if the situation weren’t so serious,” he added.

“There are no such armed groups here,” Ghani said. 

“What we found instead are hundreds of Palestinians studying medicine, training to be doctors alongside students from more than 100 countries at the internationally respected Latin American School of Medicine in Havana,” Ghani pointed out.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Ihab Masri, a Palestinian medical student. “The vast majority of Palestinians in Cuba are medical students.”

“It’s a lie,” stated Jenen Hani Alean Alzwaraa, another Palestinian medical student. “There is no Hezbollah or Hamas here in Cuba. No.”

“Now in her fifth year studying medicine, Jenen escaped the decades-long siege and blockade of Gaza, only to face another one in Cuba,” Hassan explained.

“The people here are very nice. They’re really good,” Jenen said. “I feel it’s the same suffering, but in different forms. For me, it’s a crime, especially for Palestinians and Cubans.”

“Today, these young Palestinian students suffer alongside ordinary Cubans,” the journalist continued. “Power blackouts now extend up to 18 or 20 hours a day, and fuel is in extremely short supply.”

“The power goes out a lot, and sometimes it really affects my studies,” Jenen explained. “It affects many aspects of life.”

“Everyone came here to live in peace,” said Jenen. “Nobody is here for politics. We don’t want any problems. We just want to live like everyone else.”

“Trump is a person who claims he stopped 10 or 12 wars, and day by day that number keeps increasing,” Masri added. “Someone who not only justifies but also denies the genocide that has been committed — you can’t trust someone like that.”