A program overseen by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) sent almost a dozen youth to Cuba from Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Peru, with the
goal of rousing opposition against the Cuban government, an Associated Press (AP) investigation revealed earlier this week.
USAID initiated the program shortly after the inauguration of US President Barack Obama in 2008, when the president spoke publically of a “new beginning” in US-Cuban relations. It was based in Costa Rica, and run through Creative Associates International, a US company hired by USAID which was recently linked to the creation of a “Cuban Twitter,” a network aimed at connecting Cubans to promote “democracy”.
The AP report detailed how the contracted youth – some of whom were paid $5.41 per hour for their efforts – often posed as tourists, visiting college campuses and attempting to organize Cuban youth for political activism.
In the most prominent case, at a university in Santa Clara, a workshop on HIV prevention provided a “perfect excuse” to recruit activists.