Worlds Apart
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Erik Jones, director of European and Eurasian studies at Johns Hopkins University on European unity in the Skripal case
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‘We could have a nuclear war by accident’ Professor Gerhard Mangott of the University of Innsbruck analyses Moscow-EU relations
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‘Fidel trusted me’: Jon Alpert, American filmmaker on Cuba documentary he filmed for 45 years
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‘The US is disregarding its allies’ – Jarrett Blanc, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for Intl Peace on US pull-out from Iran deal
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‘The Americans are parents, but we say: We’re off to college’ – The Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs
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‘Who is going to take care of Jerusalem? Us or Hamas?’ An interview with Dore Gold, Israeli diplomat
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‘The US trade policy is a mess’ - Brahma Chellaney from the Center for Policy Research
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‘The US is using racket diplomacy to promote their interests’ – former French foreign trade minister
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‘Italy is a perfect storm for populism in Europe’ - Paolo Magri, director of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies
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‘You need Russia if you want peace in the Middle East’ – ex-Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel
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British media personality Katie Hopkins on Putin, London’s mayor and multiculturalism
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Propaganda exercise or attempt at democracy? – Vyatka State University assistant professor Samantha Lomb on Stalin’s constitution
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‘Iran is the main destabiliser in the region’ – Israel’s ex-Deputy FM Daniel Ayalon
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‘Migration is necessary’ – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
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‘Sport is what brings people together’ – Russian hockey legend Viacheslav Fetisov
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Columbia University Professor of Economics Arvind Panagariya on US trade war
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‘Football connects people’ – Legendary Croatian footballer Davor Suker
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‘Views about women’s rights are changing in Afghanistan’ – Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi
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Internet of Things Council founder: Internet of the future, benefits and challenges
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Meir Javedanfar: America abandoning the Iran deal was, ‘a wrong move’
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'The United States is on the declining part of the life cycle curve" – Ichak Adizes, author and management consultant
‘Fidel trusted me’: Jon Alpert, American filmmaker on Cuba documentary he filmed for 45 years
Jon Alpert is an American journalist and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. He spent 45 years following three Cuban families and Fidel Castro to show Americans “what the Cuban revolution was like.”
“Fidel trusted me, he considered me his friend and took risks allowing my camera into places no one’s been before – into his bedroom, his kitchen,” Alpert says. “It’s the Fidel that nobody had ever seen, even the Cubans hadn’t seen him like this before.”
Alpert met Fidel several times, and says the “defensive posture” the Cuban leader took against Washington “hurt the revolution.”
“It needed to be more flexible with human rights and economically,” the director says. Cuba “never had the chance” to run its social experiment due to the “tremendous pressure” exerted by the United States.
Before switching to making documentaries, Jon Alpert reported war zones from Vietnam to Iraq. “I will risk my life if I think the report I make is going to change something,” he says.
Check out the full story with Jon Alpert and learn more about “Cuba and the Cameraman” and why he thinks the US embargo against the regime failed.