5 things to know about USAID's Cuban hip-hop plan

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

5 things to know about USAID's Cuban hip-hop plan
Dec 11, 12:02 AM EST

In April, The Associated Press revealed that the U.S. Agency for International Development had overseen the creation of a secret "Cuban Twitter" program to stir political dissent on the island and bypass Cuba's stranglehold on the Internet. But that was part of a larger operation. A second AP investigation in August found the agency dispatched young Latin Americans to provoke political change in Cuba, using health and civic programs as cover.

Now the AP has found the agency secretly cultivated Cuba's underground hip-hop scene, recruiting unwitting rappers to spark a youth movement against the government.

Here are five things to know:

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THE PRECEDENT

The USAID hip-hop program was inspired by Serbian student protest concerts that helped oust former President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Serbians involved in that effort guided the Cuban hip-hop program.

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RAP IS WAR

The Serbians recruited musicians for the project, including rappers Los Aldeanos, whose critical lyrics had provoked the government to restrict their performances. Los Aldeanos helped produce an underground TV project on youth culture and received political training while performing in Serbia, but U.S. government connections of the program were hidden from them.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_SECRET_CUBAN_HIP_HOP_5_FINDINGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-11-00-02-56

[Purveyor]

1. US Co-Opted Cuba's Hip-Hop Scene To Spark Change

HAVANA (AP) -- For more than two years, a U.S. agency secretly infiltrated Cuba's underground hip-hop movement, recruiting unwitting rappers to spark a youth movement against the government, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The idea was to use Cuban musicians "to break the information blockade" and build a network of young people seeking "social change," documents show. But the operation was amateurish and profoundly unsuccessful.

On at least six occasions, Cuban authorities detained or interrogated people involved in the program; they also confiscated computer hardware, and in some cases it contained information that jeopardized Cubans who likely had no idea they were caught up in a clandestine U.S. operation. Still, contractors working for the U.S. Agency for International Development kept putting themselves and their targets at risk, the AP investigation found.

They also ended up compromising Cuba's vibrant hip-hop culture - which has produced some of the hardest-hitting grassroots criticism since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. Artists that USAID contractors tried to promote left the country or stopped performing after pressure from the Cuban government, and one of the island's most popular independent music festivals was taken over after officials linked it to USAID.

The program is laid out in documents involving Creative Associates International, a Washington, D.C., contractor paid millions of dollars to undermine Cuba's communist government. The thousands of pages include contracts, emails, preserved chats, budgets, expense reports, power points, photographs and passports.

more...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_SECRET_CUBAN_HIP_HOP_ABRIDGED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-11-01-01-23

[Judi Lynn]

2. Outstanding article! The USAID-backed group, "Creative Associates" sent contractor Gross to Cuba,

the same guy who has been trying desperately to get back to his wife and family in the US for 5 years.

This article is one I intend to keep for future reference. Thank you, so much.

[newfie11]

3. Why can't we leave Cuba alone!

Haven't we had enough fun with them. I mean we still have a few middle eastern countries we haven't destroyed yet.

Apparently peace is not highly valued by us.

[Judi Lynn]

4. US Tried to Infiltrate Cuban Hip Hop to Overthrow Regime - with Predictable Results

US Tried to Infiltrate Cuban Hip Hop to Overthrow Regime - with Predictable Results
ByDESMOND BUTLER and MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
Published December 11, 2014, 11:16 AM EST


HAVANA (AP) — In early 2009, a U.S. government contractor sent a Serbian music promoter to Cuba with these covert marching orders: Recruit one of Havana's most notorious rappers to spark a youth movement against the government.

In communist Cuba, it was a project that could have landed Rajko Bozic in jail. So when he made his pitch to team up with hip-hop artist Aldo Rodriguez, Bozic left out the part about his true intentions — or that he was working for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Dreadlocked, muscled and tattooed, Aldo, as he was known, was a hero in the hip-hop underground for lyrics protesting the Castro government's grip on everyday life in songs like "El Rap Es Guerra," or "Rap Is War," words he tattooed on his forearm.


He and his group, Los Aldeanos, were about to unknowingly get sucked into a tug-of-war between Havana and Washington, as thousands of pages of documents obtained by The Associated Press and dozens of interviews show.

More:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/us-tried-to-infiltrate-cuban-hip-hop-to-overthrow-regime