McClatchy: Bush administration changing who gets Cuba aid money

[seafan]

Bush administration changing who gets Cuba aid money

By Pablo Bachelet | McClatchy Newspapers
March 30, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is undertaking a major do-over of the controversial Cuba democracy grants, restricting the funds available for anti-Castro groups in Miami and sending more resources to non-U.S. international advocacy organizations, officials and others familiar with the programs say.

The new orientation, which has sent tremors of uncertainty among many grant recipients in South Florida, comes as the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development prepare to award a record $45.7 million in Cuba democracy grants this year — more than triple the 2007 levels.
The money aims to bring about a transition to democracy in Cuba, but the programs have long faced allegations they favor more Cuban Americans in Miami than people on the island. On Friday, a White House aide resigned amid allegations of misusing program money when he worked for one of the Cuban-American groups.

.....

Until now, the bulk of the grants have been funneled through Miami groups. Critics said the programs placated Cuban-American groups but did little to bring democracy to Cuba. Havana routinely calls Cuban recipients of U.S. aid programs ``mercenaries of the empire.''

A November 2006 report by the Government Accountability Office criticized USAID for providing $74 million in grants since 1996 without competitive bids. The GAO also found some instances of abuse, including using grant money to purchase game consoles and cashmere sweaters.
And on Friday, the White House announced Felipe Sixto, its top liaison with the Cuban-American community, resigned over allegations he may have improperly obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money at a previous job with the Washington-based Center for a Free Cuba.

.....

U.S. officials say Washington-based advocacy organizations like Freedom House, International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will also be favored by the new guidelines because they have longstanding links with foreign pro-democracy groups.

Some money already has been provided to groups like the Czech advocacy group People In Need.

.....

Game consoles and cashmere sweaters, was it?


We have been robbed blind by the Bush gang.


January 20, 2009 cannot come soon enough. One person, Nancy Pelosi, can hasten the date Bush is forced out.

[MinM]

1. USAID

BREAKING NEWS: White House says a presidential aide has resigned after engaging in improprieties - Democratic Underground

[Peace Patriot]

2. Hmm. I think this might have to do with Oil War II: South America.

The Bush Junta is not so interested in Cuba as they are in Venezuela and Ecuador. Because Venezuela and Ecuador are members of OPEC and have lots and lots and lots of oil. The trouble is that Venezuela and Ecuador are democracies--really good democracies, actually; democracies with transparent elections (unlike our own); democracies in which the poor majority is, at long last, coming into its rightful power in government. Leftist democracies, with governments that believe in using the country's resources to benefit the poor. Democracies whose ideas are spreading--with leftist governments elected not only in Venezuela and Ecuador, but also in Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Nicaragua. Democracies who are leading a growing movement for social justice and regional self-determination. Democracies that reject U.S. domination in all its forms--"free trade," neo-liberalism, privatizing resources and services, ruinous World Bank/IMF loans, the murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs," sweatshop labor, global corporate predator agriculture, etc.

And nothing that the Bush Junta has done has been able to stop this overwhelming social justice/democracy movement--including coup attempts, assassination plots, dirty Bush-CIA plots to "divide and conquer," funding, arming and organizing rightwing paramilitary groups and militias, arming fascist Colombia to the teeth, to cause trouble, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, big infusions of USAID-NED funds into rightwing political groups, to mount recall elections, to field candidates, to cause riots; arm-twisting and kneecapping to force "free trade" deals (mostly unsuccessful); calling democratically elected presidents "terrorist-lovers," drug traffickers and "dictators." None of it has worked.

So, in the time-honored Bushite tradition of repeating the same mistakes over and over, they are going to divert MORE USAID-NED funds into toppling South American democracies, and are, in addition, this year, going to start Oil War II: South America. It is likely going to start in Bolivia, with a rightwing split-up of the country (splitting off the gas/oil rich eastern provinces from the central government of Evo Morales), and it is going to try its best to draw Venezuela and Ecuador into a hot war--probably over this issue (Bush-instigated civil war in Bolivia), with hot spots, also, on the Venezuelan and Ecuadoran borders with Colombia (where shots have already been fired, in the recent U.S.-Colombia bombing/incursion against Ecuador).

The Bushites are panicked--for many reasons. They have been denied the Iranian oil fields (probably mostly by China). They are losing control in Iraq. The moment U.S. forces leave, the Iraqis are going to rip up the oil contracts and write new ones, more along the lines of those in Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia (key resources nationalized, with the lion's share of the profits benefiting the people). The Bushites' name is mud, everywhere. Their only cache is violent force, paid for by us. And we are getting sick and tired of paying for it. And in fact cannot continue paying for it. So they are going to do one last push--with our non-existent money--to get huge infusions of cash into completely phony, international 'democracy' groups, to overturn democracy in South America, where it is flourishing; to use U.S. forces in South America in support of serious destabilizations (such as in Bolivia); and to use their well-armed Colombian tool ($5.5 BILLION of U.S. military aid) militarily--to get the thing started, while Bush is still in office. But it will not be finished this year. It will go on--even if, say, Obama can be elected (whose policies on this are the least bad). The current USAID-NED cash infusions will last a while, to sustain fascist coup groups ('democracy' groups--heh, heh), and Rumsfeld & co. (Rumsfeld is orchestrating this war, too*) have billions of dollars stashed around the world, stolen from us in Iraq, and U.S.-taxpayer developed mercenaries like Blackwater, to continue the South American oil war for quite some time--years.

They've been using USAID/NED funds for their previous destabilization and toppling attempts--but it has not been sufficient to their purpose. So now they are going to load all the anti-Castro Miami Cuban money into the anti-democracy pot, for the big push.

I have to say, I'm not crying for the anti-Castro Miami Cubans. They are only getting what they deserve--shafted by the Bushites. And I think Rumsfeld, Exxon Mobil & co. are not going to win, in South America. The leftist democracy movement is just too big, as is the regional self-determination movement (even among the center-right governments of Central America, and the two center-right governments left in South America--Peru and Paraguay--both with big leftist movements, that will likely win Paraguay this year, and Peru soon afterward). Regional self-determination is a self-preservation issue--also a Latin American pride and sovereignty issue. The truth is that Latin America (as a whole) would be a powerhouse trade bloc, if it pulls together--as South America has been doing. This is why a center-right government like Paraguay joined the Bank of the South (a Chavez-inspired project). It's good for Paraguay. It's good for the region. The Bushites two-pronged plan--for more massive interference in democratic processes (with more USAID-NED funds), and military distabilization actions--will fail, in my opinion. They may cause a lot of trouble, but they will fail. And their final gift to us will be a permanent divide in our own hemisphere, with southern half not wanting much to do with us for a couple of centuries.

-----

"The Smart Way to Beat Tyrants Like Chávez," by Donald Rumsfeld, 12/1/07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113001800.html

(He urges economic warfare against Venezuela and others, via a "free trade" deal with fascist Colombia (--and, as we have learned, via actions like Exxon Mobil's, trying to freeze $12 billion in Venezuela's assets); and, "swift action" by the U.S. in support of "friends and allies" in South America (fascist thugs planning coups). "Swift" military "action" before Bush leaves office, is my guess. And my other guess is that we will see this first in Bolivia, when the white separatists, who want to control the gas/oil-rich provinces, declare their "independence" this May and ask for U.S. support. We may then see a rightwing "anti-war" movement in Venezuela and Ecuador, funded by the USAID-NED, to prevent those governments from aiding their ally, Evo Morales, and to prevent other allies, such as Brazil and Argentina, from stopping the split up of Bolivia. Rumsfeld may thus gain a second fascist enclave, at the southern end of the Bolivarian alliance--in addition to Colombia in north.)