by Alan Macleod
Part 5 - A Shady Organization
Some might ask what the problem with receiving money from USAID is in the first place. Supporters of the organization say it does a great deal of good around the world, helping to vaccinate children or providing clean drinking water. Looking at the organization’s (now defunct) website, one would assume it is a charitable group promoting progressive values. Indeed, many on the conservative right appear to have taken this woke veneer at face value. Explaining his decision to close the organization down, Musk described it as a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”
This, however, could barely be further from the truth. In reality, USAID, from its inception, has consistently targeted leftist and non-aligned governments, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
In 2021, USAID was a key player behind a failed Color Revolution (a pro-U.S. insurrection) in Cuba. The institution spent millions of dollars funding and training musicians and activists on the island, organizing them into a revolutionary, anti-communist force. USAID offered up to $2 million per grant to applicants, noting that “Artists and musicians have taken to the streets to protest government repression, producing anthems such as ‘Patria y Vida,’ which has not only brought greater global awareness to the plight of the Cuban people but also served as a rallying cry for change on the island.”
This, however, could barely be further from the truth. In reality, USAID, from its inception, has consistently targeted leftist and non-aligned governments, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
In 2021, USAID was a key player behind a failed Color Revolution (a pro-U.S. insurrection) in Cuba. The institution spent millions of dollars funding and training musicians and activists on the island, organizing them into a revolutionary, anti-communist force. USAID offered up to $2 million per grant to applicants, noting that “Artists and musicians have taken to the streets to protest government repression, producing anthems such as ‘Patria y Vida,’ which has not only brought greater global awareness to the plight of the Cuban people but also served as a rallying cry for change on the island.”
USAID has also created a number of covert apps aimed at regime change. The most notorious of these was Zunzuneo, often described as Cuba’s Twitter. The idea was to create a successful messaging and news app to dominate the Cuban market, then slowly drip-feed the population anti-government propaganda and direct them to protests and “smart mobs” aimed at triggering a color-style revolution.
In an effort to hide its ownership of the project, the U.S. government held a secret meeting with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to entice him to invest in it. It is unclear to what extent, if any, Dorsey helped, as he has declined to speak on the matter.
In an effort to hide its ownership of the project, the U.S. government held a secret meeting with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to entice him to invest in it. It is unclear to what extent, if any, Dorsey helped, as he has declined to speak on the matter.
In 2014, USAID’s Cuban program was again exposed. This time, the organization had been running fake HIV-prevention workshops as a cover to gather intelligence and recruit a network of agents on the island.
In Venezuela, too, USAID has served as a force for regime change. It was intimately involved in the failed 2002 coup against President Hugo Chavez, funding and training key coup leaders in the run-up to the insurrection. Since then, it has consistently attempted to subvert Venezuelan democracy, including by funding self-declared president Juan Guaidó. It was even at the center of a disastrous 2019 stunt where U.S.-backed figures attempted to drive trucks full of USAID-sponsored “aid” into the country, only to light the cargo on fire themselves and blame the government.
In an attempt to stamp out the threat of socialism, USAID agents are also known to have taught torture techniques to right-wing Latin American dictatorships. In Uruguay, USAID’s Dan Mitrione taught police how to use electricity on different sensitive areas of the body, the use of drugs to induce vomiting and advanced psychological torture techniques. Mitrione wished to demonstrate on live subjects, so he would kidnap beggars from the streets and torture them to death.
In Venezuela, too, USAID has served as a force for regime change. It was intimately involved in the failed 2002 coup against President Hugo Chavez, funding and training key coup leaders in the run-up to the insurrection. Since then, it has consistently attempted to subvert Venezuelan democracy, including by funding self-declared president Juan Guaidó. It was even at the center of a disastrous 2019 stunt where U.S.-backed figures attempted to drive trucks full of USAID-sponsored “aid” into the country, only to light the cargo on fire themselves and blame the government.
In an attempt to stamp out the threat of socialism, USAID agents are also known to have taught torture techniques to right-wing Latin American dictatorships. In Uruguay, USAID’s Dan Mitrione taught police how to use electricity on different sensitive areas of the body, the use of drugs to induce vomiting and advanced psychological torture techniques. Mitrione wished to demonstrate on live subjects, so he would kidnap beggars from the streets and torture them to death.
The notorious Guatemalan police, complicit in the country’s genocide of the Mayan population, also relied heavily on USAID for training. By 1970, at least 30,000 police officers had undergone counterinsurgency training, organized and paid for by USAID.
USAID was even more heavily implicated in genocide in Peru in the 1990s. Between 1996 and 2000, Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori ordered the forced mass sterilization of 300,000 mostly indigenous women. USAID donated some $35 million to the program, now widely understood to constitute a genocide. No American official has faced any legal repercussions.
USAID’s beginnings can be traced back to 1961, an era when national liberation movements in Latin America, Africa, and Asia were fighting – and winning – independence. Progressive revolutions, such as in Cuba, were inspiring the world, and Communist states like the USSR were developing rapidly, challenging the dominance of the United States.
USAID was established as a counterweight to all this, an attempt to shore up conservative, pro-U.S. governments and undermine or redirect more radical ones. Since its inception, it has worked hand-in-glove with the Central Intelligence Agency.
USAID was even more heavily implicated in genocide in Peru in the 1990s. Between 1996 and 2000, Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori ordered the forced mass sterilization of 300,000 mostly indigenous women. USAID donated some $35 million to the program, now widely understood to constitute a genocide. No American official has faced any legal repercussions.
USAID’s beginnings can be traced back to 1961, an era when national liberation movements in Latin America, Africa, and Asia were fighting – and winning – independence. Progressive revolutions, such as in Cuba, were inspiring the world, and Communist states like the USSR were developing rapidly, challenging the dominance of the United States.
USAID was established as a counterweight to all this, an attempt to shore up conservative, pro-U.S. governments and undermine or redirect more radical ones. Since its inception, it has worked hand-in-glove with the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 1973, Senator Ted Kennedy wrote a letter to the CIA, directly asking if they were using USAID to carry out operations in Southeast Asia. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger himself responded in the affirmative. For that reason, former CIA officer John Kiriakou labeled USAID as little more than a “propaganda adjunct of the agency.”
Surprisingly, The New York Times published a similar assessment. In 1978, its correspondent, A. J. Langguth, wrote that the “two primary functions” of the USAID global police training program were to allow the CIA to “plant men with local police in sensitive places around the world” and to bring to the United States “prime candidates for enrollment as CIA employees.
Surprisingly, The New York Times published a similar assessment. In 1978, its correspondent, A. J. Langguth, wrote that the “two primary functions” of the USAID global police training program were to allow the CIA to “plant men with local police in sensitive places around the world” and to bring to the United States “prime candidates for enrollment as CIA employees.
Today, the institution presents itself as trying to empower civil society to take the lead in promoting democracy. But, as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange wrote, the past fifty years have authentic civil society actors, such as churches and unions, hollowed out, leaving only astroturfed think tanks and NGOs, “whose purpose, beneath all the verbiage, is to execute political agendas by proxy.”
In the panic surrounding its closure, many USAID figures have let the cat out of the bag and made this point directly themselves. “It’s not a generosity project,” one employee told Fox News, adding, “This is a national security agency and effort at its core.”
In the panic surrounding its closure, many USAID figures have let the cat out of the bag and made this point directly themselves. “It’s not a generosity project,” one employee told Fox News, adding, “This is a national security agency and effort at its core.”
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