Episode 3 is an inside look on Cuba’s healthcare program and medical brigades. It throughout the world, ranging from contradictory accusations of being victims of exploitation or as evil beings who victimize foreign citizens. We talk to doctors who served in Brazil, Bolivia and Italy, and of course the ones who held it down in Cuba during COVID-19, to gain insight on the truth of the matter at hand.
Episode 2 starts off with Cuba in lockdown because of Covid-19, which has closed public transportation & has caused people to have to walk or bike to the places they need to be; this then transitions to how this has been the norm for some while because of the the impact of the US-imposed “oil blockade” on Cuba; it builds upon the last episode to show even more ways that Cubans are finding alternatives to scarcities caused by US sanctions.
In the first episode of the 3-part documentary series, Cuban journalist Liz Oliva Fernández shows us the daily impact of US sanctions on the Cuban people, particularly on basic necessities and medications that were needed during the Covid-19 andemic. It begins to piece together the nature of the embargo, detailing an arduous, chaotic 5 years since Obama’s reopening of US-Cuba relations to Trump’s rollback; Liz connects the dots between Trump’s stance on Cuba and the political interests driving them, ultimately revealing the international implications that Americans hold at their ballot boxes which Cubans have no say in.
The media landscape in Cuba is bleak. State-run outlets churn out propaganda while US-based journalism reinforces narratives propagated in Miami and DC. Some foreign media organizations try to find an “unbiased” happy medium, but the result is often false balance that obscures the context necessary to understand a country where every aspect of life is shaped by six decades of economic war waged by the world’s most powerful government.
Belly of the Beast fills the void left by media coverage of Cuba and US-Cuba relations by prioritizing the following:
Investigative journalism that exposes the political and economic interests driving US policy and the impact of that policy on people both in Cuba and the United States. We do not ignore Cuba’s many problems, but our priority is to serve as a watchdog over powerful forces in the United States since our primary audience is based there.
People-focused stories that are often misreported, underreported or ignored. Foreign media outlets tend to portray Cubans as helpless victims or passive cogs in a machine. We humanize Cubans both within and outside of government institutions who are working to make their communities, their country and the world a better place.
“Covid-19 remedies have replaced our ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ quotes on whatsapp. In fact, home remedies are spreading faster than the virus. The topic has given content creators a chance to make their audience smile during a devastating pandemic. Masks and sanitisers are everyone’s best friends. These give a person a sense of security. The pandemic has changed so much in our lifestyles and habits. Quarantine has given all of us another chance to discover ourselves, to discover our hobbies and to discover the people close to us.”
“During this period, I have realized how privileged I am because I see a lot of people struggling with financial problems. I hope their problems end soon. However, I read a lot of positive articles about how the earth is healing. That makes me very happy. However, certain things like fake WhatsApp forwards and the fact that my grandparents believe in them as if they are the words of the oracle is very irritating.”
“I study in a college in Bangalore, India and got to know of the coronavirus scare
in early March…Fortunately I booked bus tickets and went home (to Hyderabad) immediately, a week before our country went into
lockdown. Some of my friends were not so lucky and were stuck in flats or PGs
near college and could not go home.”
“Personally, keeping a schedule, e.g getting to bed at a certain time, has really helped keep my life fairly structured during these chaotic times. So I’d probably encourage others to be slightly productive, even if it isn’t studying/work, something like baking is super fun and you get some great treats out of it.”
“Sure we couldn’t meet our friends or go to the theatre…Looking at the bright side of the pandemic, we bonded with our families over delicious food.”
“At the time we thought, this was a short term thing, and we were anticipating a quick return back. But as it turned out, we were to be here for the long haul.”
Life in Quarantine: Witnessing Global Pandemic is an initiative sponsored by the Poetic Media Lab and the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis at Stanford University.
Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA),
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