Chaos in Cuba & Mob Violence in South Africa

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The Tonic Accord

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In this short episode, Drew and Alex give their thoughts on the protests, violence and political crackdowns that are taking place in both Cuba and in South Africa.  Cuba is in a very dire situation. The perfect storm of sanctions reinstated by the Trump administration, electricity shortages, empty grocery shops, a failing economy, a repressive government, and an increasingly bad situation regarding COVID-19, seems to have put the Cuban people over the edge. Over the last few weeks, there have been vast protests around Cuba that started via internet mobilization. Now the government has sent police into the streets to crackdown on the unrest, but many officials think these protests may be different. The Cuba government is in a tough place, in the past they had been able to provide security and stability, in place of open democratic values, but now that contract has been broken. Drew and Alex wonder if this will bring change, will the government respond with compromise or bringing down the hammer?    In South Africa, the Constitutional Court sentenced Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s corrupt ex-president, to 15 months in prison for refusing to appear before an investigation into corruption while he was in office. On July 7th, Mr Zuma was taken into custody. His allies then spread misinformation about the basis for his arrest and encouraged unrest. This led to some of the worst violence since the Apartheid era; trucks were burned, telecommunication towers were destroyed, the largest oil refinery was shut down, and hundreds of people were killed. Drew and Alex discuss how this was fueled by mob violence created by political division and lies. They also talk about how this will just hurt South Africans as many businesses will leave the country.