How USAID’s Covert Ops In Cuba Endanger Health Workers Everywhere

[Judi Lynn]

How USAID’s Covert Ops In Cuba Endanger Health Workers Everywhere
by Andrew Breiner Posted on August 5, 2014 at 2:55 pm

The United States government secretly sent young people from across Latin America to Cuba to undermine the government, the Associated Press reported Monday. These operatives were given little training and paid badly, despite a real risk of arrest and prison, and attempted to recruit young Cubans through civic programs, including an HIV prevention workshop.

The choice of a U.S.-sponsored HIV workshop in Cuba is an interesting one, since Cuba’s HIV infection rate is one of the lowest in the world, and one-sixth that of the U.S. But it appears the disease was not necessarily the focus of the workshop, which was attended by 60 people. Fernando Murillo, after returning from Cuba, put together a report detailing his activities for Creative Associates, the USAID contractor hired to work against Cuba’s government. His only mention of HIV says it was “the perfect excuse for the treatment of the underlying theme,” meaning anti-government organizing.

In a press release, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) blasted the program. “As co-chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, I am particularly concerned by the revelation that HIV-prevention programs were used as a cover,” she said. “This blatant deception undermines U.S. credibility abroad and endangers U.S. government supported public health programs which have saved millions of lives in recent years around the world.”

Creative Associates is the same contractor that developed the ‘Cuban Twitter’ site ZunZuneo for USAID and the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), also uncovered by the Associated Press earlier this year, and also intended to undermine the Cuban government. The intention was to build up a subscriber base while keeping the network’s U.S. government affiliation a secret, allowing the program to collect information that could aid in encouraging anti-government activity, and eventually using the network to call for mass protests. It never got beyond some data collection and light political content before its funding ran out and it shut down in mid-2012. So ZunZuneo’s only political accomplishment was exposing its 40,000 users to potential monitoring from the Cuban government.

More:
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/08/05/3467228/usaid-cuba-hiv/

[elehhhhna]

1. This was utter horseshit but let's face it

all these aid / bank/etc. government setups are probably CIA fronts anyway and we just suck. We fuck with everybody and ruin everything we can. The greatest fortunes are made when civilizations rise, and again when they fall. The MFers in charge are to lazy and inbred to build on civilization. They can destroy it much more easily and get better returns. The shockdoctrine is is nojw the platform for both parties. UP IS DOWN. Noble Peace Prize winners fucking waive off torture. We're fucked.

[Psephos]

2. Despicable. Nobel Peace Prize my ass.

More here from WaPo.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/04/report-u-s-aid-used-hiv-program-in-cuba-to-foment-rebellion/

Good OP.

[Socialistlemur]

3. It´s an excellent idea

I think it´s an excellent idea to have more contacts between free individuals and cubans whose freedom has disappeared under the Castro dictatorship. The gradual erosion of the regime´s control by peaceful means is a very smart approach.

Eventually, the new Cuban generations will reject the dictatorial regime, which seems to be inclined towards fascism (as shown by the move to bring in multinationals and fire state employees who will be forced to work for capitalist investors for slave wages).