Matthew Aho, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin America Advisor
The U.S. Agency for International Development created and operated "ZunZuneo," a communications network similar to Twitter that had the aim of destabilizing the Cuban government, the Associated Press reported on April 3. USAID responded by saying the purpose of the program was "to create a platform for Cubans to speak freely among themselves, period," while the White House denied that it was a covert program. How much of an impact will the revelations have on U.S.-Cuban relations? What does the controversy mean for bilateral issues such as the imprisonment in Cuba of former U.S. government contractor Alan Gross? Are social media programs such as these a good use of USAID funding and the U.S. government's resources?
The U.S. Agency for International Development's 'cockamamie' (to borrow Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy's descriptor) scheme to foment unrest through semi-covert bootleg Twitter site ZunZuneo is only the latest embarrassment stemming from Congress' $15–30 million annual allocation for democracy promotion in Cuba.
The program's failure lies not in the Obama administration's mission to increase the flow of information to the Cuban people, but rather in its methods and cost: at its zenith, the site reportedly attracted some 40,000 users, most of whom only ever received sports scores and entertainment updates. By the time it was terminated in 2012, the cost to American taxpayers was more than $2 million—or $50 per user—and the most significant deliverable was another public relations coup for the Castro government.
In terms of U.S.-Cuba relations, ZunZuneo's outing will only sour ongoing bilateral talks. It will also confirm the paranoid suspicions of Cuban government hardliners, thereby emboldening them to oppose unilateral steps toward rapprochement, such as the release on humanitarian grounds of Alan Gross. Although most moderates have always understood that USAID-led democracy promotion programs in Cuba will never bear fruit, they are a thorn in the side of
bilateral relations and a reliable tool for hardliners in both Washington and Havana who prefer the status quo.
To break through this logjam, the White House should take two steps: 1) order the State Department to review the programs with an eye toward supporting the Cuban people and; 2) open the information floodgates by authorizing companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook and others to do transparently what USAID never could: create a platform for Cubans to speak freely among themselves, period.
Our Opinions
Date | Title |
---|---|
11/20/15 | Cuban Adjustment Act inextricably tied to the embargo Ricardo Herrero, The Miami Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
10/5/15 | Six Lessons In Innovation From Cuban Entrepreneurs Ricardo Herrero, The Huffington Post |
Date | Title |
---|---|
1/14/15 | Miami entrepreneurs to host Cuban counterparts as part of cultural exchange Tomas Bilbao, Knight Blog |
1/12/15 | Changing From Within Eduardo Mestre, The Huffington Post |
1/9/15 | The End of Policy Carlos Saladrigas, The Huffington Post |
1/7/15 | The End of the Resource-Denial Policy Myth? Tomas Bilbao, The Huffington Post |
1/5/15 | Helms-Burton Helps Castro Hurt Cuban Civil Society Ricardo Herrero, The Huffington Post |
Date | Title |
---|---|
12/30/14 | Dec. 17 a day of triumph for Cuban Americans Ricardo Herrero, The Miami Herald |
12/24/14 | The key role played by Cuban Americans Tomas Bilbao, El Pais |
Date | Title |
---|---|
4/17/14 | Current Record |
Date | Title |
---|---|
11/25/13 | One Step Forward, One Step Back For Cuba's Market Reforms Matthew Aho & Pedro Freyre, Daily Business Review |
11/6/13 | Cuba — A path toward national healing Ricardo Herrero, The Miami Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
10/15/13 | Are Raúl Castro's Reforms Helping Cuba's Economy? Matthew Aho, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin America Advisor |
Date | Title |
---|---|
7/3/13 | Tomas Bilbao of the Cuba Study Group discusses a strategic approach to US policy towards Cuba Tomas Bilbao, AHORA Latin America |
Date | Title |
---|---|
6/28/13 | 'Back to the Future' on postal talks Matthew Aho, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin America Advisor |
6/11/13 | The Political Context of Cuba's Continued Designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism Tomas Bilbao, Center for Strategic and International Studies |
Date | Title |
---|---|
4/12/13 | Legacy of Yoani Sánchez visit: Seize the moment Carlos Saladrigas, The Miami Herald |
4/1/13 | Yoani Sánchez visit invites debate on U.S.-Cuba policy Ricardo Herrero, The Miami Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
1/31/13 | Hagel's views on Cuba are in sync with leading democracy advocates Ricardo Herrero, The Hill |
1/27/13 | Payá, Cepero’s human-rights legacy in Cuba Felice Gorordo, The Miami Herald |
1/23/13 | What Does Obama's Second Term Hold for U.S.-Cuba Relations? Matthew Aho, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin America Advisor |
1/14/13 | What Cuba's Reforms Tell Us About the Country's Leadership Tomas Bilbao - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs |
Date | Title |
---|---|
12/27/12 | Getting Serious About Alan Gross Ricardo Herrero, Huffington Post |
Date | Title |
---|---|
4/6/12 | Cuba and its Diaspora Carlos Saladrigas, Centro Cultural Padre Felix Varela |
Date | Title |
---|---|
3/29/12 | The Pope’s Historic Visit to Cuba Tomas Bilbao, Americas Quarterly Blog |
Date | Title |
---|---|
10/11/11 | Cuba’s Economic Reforms: A Window of Opportunity Raices de Esperanza Blog, Tomas Bilbao |
Date | Title |
---|---|
8/30/11 | Media Bias on Pablo Milanes in Miami: Obstacle to Cuban Reconciliation Tomas Bilbao, The Havana Note |
Date | Title |
---|---|
6/29/11 | How Undoing Obama’s Cuba Policy Would Harm Entrepreneurs and Civil Society Empowerment Tomas Bilbao, CFI Acción Blog |
Date | Title |
---|---|
2/24/11 | My Wish for Cuban Youth in 2011: A Future at Home Tomas Bilbao, Roots of Hope Blog |
2/11/11 | Cuban Cultural Exchange Enrique Sosa, The New York Times |
2/1/11 | U.S. Policy Pushes Cuba into the Arms of our Adversaries Tomas Bilbao, Sarasota Herald Tribune |
Date | Title |
---|---|
1/24/11 | A Little Bit of Very Good News Carlos Saladrigas, CSG Blog |
1/21/11 | Good for the Cuban people Carlos Saladrigas, Miami Herald |
1/7/11 | A New Beginning with Cuba or a Missed Opportunity? Tomas Bilbao, The Havana Note |
Date | Title |
---|---|
10/14/10 | Twitter’s Glitch: An Opportunity for Cuba and the U.S. Carlos Saladrigas, @CubaStudyGroup |
10/6/10 | Technical Glitch Responsible for Loss of SMS Twitter Service from Cuba Tomas Bilbao, The Havana Note |
10/5/10 | Cuban Government May Have Blocked SMS Access to Twitter Tomas Bilbao, The Havana Note |
10/4/10 | A New Release of Political Prisoners in Cuba? Tomas Bilbao, The Havana Note |
Date | Title |
---|---|
9/28/10 | Ease travel to Cuba, help spur reform Carlos Saladrigas, Sun Sentinel |
9/22/10 | U.S. Should Take Steps to Encourage Reforms in Cuba Tomas Bilbao, The Havana Note |
9/15/10 | U.S. Foreign Policy Should Not Be Controlled by the Cuban Government Tomas Bilbao, America's Quarterly |
Date | Title |
---|---|
8/31/10 | Helping Fidel Undermine Himself Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
8/27/10 | Its Time the US Obsessed With Helping the Cuban People Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
8/9/10 | What Fidel Didn't Say Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
8/6/10 | Why Conservative Should Suppot Changing U.S. Policy Toward Cuba Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
8/1/10 | Expand the modern tools of liberation Carlos Saladrigas, Miami Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
7/7/10 | A Turning Point for Cuba’s Civil Society Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
Date | Title |
---|---|
6/30/10 | Cuba embargo hurts dissidents Tomas Bilbao, Washington Times |
6/20/10 | Important lessons from Cuba’s civil society Tomas Bilbao, Buenos Aires Herald |
6/20/10 | Let the dissidents lead us Carlos Saladrigas, Miami Herald |
6/6/10 | The Meaning of the Letter of 74 Tomas Bilbao, Latin America Advisor |
Date | Title |
---|---|
5/20/10 | U.S. can't turn deaf ear anymore Tomas Bilbao, Miami Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
4/21/10 | The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Ric Herrero, Cuba Study Group |
4/5/10 | The Problem with Trying to Defend the Status Quo Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
Date | Title |
---|---|
2/25/10 | What the World Can Learn from the Death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
Date | Title |
---|---|
1/21/10 | Is U.S. President Barack Obama's Cuban Honeymoon Over? Tomas Bilbao, Latin America Advisor |
Date | Title |
---|---|
11/10/09 | Reconciliation, Justice and Peace Carlos Saladrigas, El Nuevo Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
9/24/09 | Juanes' concert for peace -- reading the tea leaves Carlos Saladrigas, Miami Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
8/15/09 | Juanes and his concert Carlos Saladrigas, El Nuevo Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
6/16/09 | Comments on U.S. Support for OAS Cuba Resolution Tomas Bilbao, Latin America Advisor |
6/8/09 | Time for U.S. Policy toward Cuba to represent our National Interest Tomas BIlbao, Cuba Study Group |
Date | Title |
---|---|
4/25/09 | Much more needs to change Carlos Saladrigas, Miami Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
3/18/09 | Cuba policy: an opportunity to weaken Chavez? Carlos Saladrigas, Cuba Study Group |
3/11/09 | Raul's Window Carlos Saladrigas, El Pais |
3/3/09 | Lugar's Cuba Report Deserves Praise Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
Date | Title |
---|---|
1/16/09 | NICHOLAS REY (1938-2009): A legacy of Service Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
Date | Title |
---|---|
12/13/08 | Standing in the way of change in Cuba Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group, Miami Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
11/28/08 | Cuba and the Whales Carlos Saladrigas, El Nuevo Herald |
Date | Title |
---|---|
9/25/08 | Help for Cuba Washington Times- Tomas Bilbao |
9/11/08 | Cuba's Katrina Washington Post- Ignacio Sosa |
9/9/08 | Aid for Cuba Miami Herald- Enrique Sosa |
9/9/08 | We are hurting Cubans, not the regime Miami Herald- Carlos Saladrigas |
9/8/08 | Russia steps in to fill the humanitarian vacuum in Cuba Ignacio Sosa, Cuba Study Group |
9/8/08 | Playing Games with Cuba Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
Date | Title |
---|---|
7/7/08 | U.S. Official’s Offer to Connect Cuba to Internet Deserves Praise Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |
Date | Title |
---|---|
5/28/08 | Time for U.S. Officials to Make Good on their Commitment to Cuban Dissidents Tomas Bilbao, Cuba Study Group |