Pro-democracy program in Cuba questioned after man detained

[alp227]

Mary Beth Sheridan, The Washington Post, Dec. 25, 2009, A3
The detention of a U.S. government contractor in Cuba has put the spotlight on a secretive U.S. pro-democracy program that ballooned during the Bush administration but has faced persistent questions about its management and effectiveness.

The Cuba program seeks to evade the Communist government's "information blockade" by sneaking computers, cellphones, DVD players and other communications equipment onto the island. Its budget rose from about $3.5 million in 2000 to $45 million in 2008 under President George W. Bush, who made democracy promotion a priority.

--SNIP--
Since it was launched in 1997, the Cuba program has come under fire for poor management. An audit by the Government Accountability Office in 2006 found that groups receiving $4.7 million in pro-democracy grants had made numerous questionable purchases, including Godiva chocolates and Nintendo Game Boys. In 2008, a former employee of one Cuban American group pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $600,000 in pro-democracy funds.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called this month for a review of the Cuba program, saying it "may have noble objectives, but we need to examine whether we're achieving them." Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in April asking for "a more robust mechanism" to track the spending and results of the "problematic" program.

The Obama administration has continued to support the Cuba democracy program, which received $20 million in 2009 and 2010.
--SNIP--
Since Cuba democracy program took off in the mid-1990s, it has had a cloak-and-dagger flair, providing grants to nongovernmental groups that sent shortwave radios, laptop computers, photocopiers, books and other items into the Communist country, often in the suitcases of volunteers posing as tourists. Some grant money also goes for humanitarian aid for dissidents' families, and for activities outside Cuba focused on its human-rights record and the post-Castro transition.

In the past two years, the U.S. government has increased its efforts to slip technology into Cuba, as new rules allowed Cubans to buy cellphones and laptop computers. Access to the Internet remains restricted and expensive on the island. Officials at the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development have turned more to private contractors, as part of efforts to improve financial accountability. One of them, Bethesda-based Development Alternatives, employs the man now in prison.
--SNIP--
The democracy program is risky for providers and recipients of the equipment. The Cuban government has made collaboration with the program, funded under the 1996 Helms-Burton law, punishable by jail terms of up to 20 years. Cuban intelligence has infiltrated many dissident groups that have been the target of the assistance.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/24/AR2009122403065_pf.html

[boppers]

1. Interesting article.

"State Department and congressional sources said the man, a Bethesda computer specialist traveling on a tourist visa, was not working with political dissidents but was hooking up members of a community group to the Internet."

Yikes, setting up a network connection is a crime?

[tammywammy]

2. Since Cuba restricts internet access, that's not that surprising that it would be a crime

Restricts in that citizens must login through a government controlled computer and the price is prohibitive to the majority of citizens.

[boppers]

3. Speechless.

I can't believe people still defend this.

[tammywammy]

4. I'm sure someone will show up to do it though

:)

[boppers]

5. ..or not. Low traffic evening, I think.

Something about a block of multi-cultural holidays in Northern Hemisphere tied to daylight hours.