Jon Lee Anderson on Trump's Cuba threats, plus how chokepoints like Hormuz have shaped history

David Marr hosts a compelling episode of Late Night Live examining two critical geopolitical flashpoints: Cuba under escalating U.S. pressure and the historical significance of global choke points like the Strait of Hormuz. In the first segment, journalist Jon Lee Anderson provides deep insight into Cuba’s deteriorating situation, where economic collapse, mass emigration, and a fragile regime face renewed threats of U.S. intervention under Trump. Anderson argues that while the Cuban people may not support the current regime, they would fiercely resist foreign invasion, and that the U.S. strategy—economic strangulation rather than military action—may be more effective, though dangerous. He highlights the role of Cuban exiles in Miami and the influence of figures like Marco Rubio in shaping U.S. policy. The second half features historian Damien Valdez, who traces how narrow maritime passages—from Hormuz and the Dardanelles to Malacca and Gibraltar—have shaped empires, trade, and warfare for centuries. Valdez reveals that choke points are not just logistical bottlenecks but ideological battlegrounds, representing competing worldviews: open seas for global cooperation versus closed systems for national order. He warns that modern leaders like Trump, Putin, and Xi are reviving the latter philosophy, risking a new era of trade fragmentation and conflict. Key takeaways include: 1) Economic pressure, not invasion, is the U.S. strategy toward Cuba, leveraging humanitarian crises to force concessions; 2) Cuba’s military and societal readiness for resistance remains strong despite economic collapse; 3) Choke points have historically determined the fate of empires and continue to be strategic levers in modern geopolitics; 4) The ideological battle over open vs. closed seas reflects deeper global tensions between cooperation and autarky; 5) Trump’s blockade of Hormuz may backfire, strengthening Iran’s regime by amplifying economic pain; 6) The U.S. is playing a high-stakes game of brinkmanship with Cuba, but risks unintended consequences like mass migration; 7) Historical choke points remain relevant today, especially in the context of supply chain security and energy dominance; 8) The future of global trade may depend on who controls these narrow, high-value passages. The episode concludes with a sobering reflection on how geography, power, and ideology continue to collide in the 21st century.