March roundup

Filed under Monthly roundup by on April 25, 2012 at 7:46 am {no comments}

Photo: REUTERS/Jorge Silva

The Obama administration in March asked Pope Benedict XVI to help secure the release of Alan Gross, a USAID subcontractor who has been jailed in Cuba since December 2009.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters:

We obviously are hopeful that the pope will continue to be strong on all of the human rights issues in Cuba, religious freedom, and it would be a very, very good thing if the Cuban government were to take this opportunity to release Alan Gross. We would be obviously very grateful were the the pope to raise this issue. (more…)

February roundup

Filed under Monthly roundup by on March 3, 2012 at 4:25 pm {4 comments}

Alan Gross

Alan Gross smuggled a special SIM card into Cuba to try to prevent Cuban authorities from detecting satellite phone transmissions, the Associated Press reported on Feb. 12.
The AP’s Desmond Butler wrote:

Piece by piece, in backpacks and carry-on bags, American aid contractor Alan Gross made sure laptops, smartphones, hard drives and networking equipment were secreted into Cuba. The most sensitive item, according to official trip reports, was the last one: a specialized mobile phone chip that experts say is often used by the Pentagon and the CIA to make satellite signals virtually impossible to track.
The purpose, according to an Associated Press review of Gross’ reports, was to set up uncensored satellite Internet service for Cuba’s small Jewish community.
The operation was funded as democracy promotion for the U.S. Agency for International Development, established in 1961 to provide economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. Gross, however, identified himself as a member of a Jewish humanitarian group, not a representative of the U.S. government.

The AP said USAID denied that its contractors perform covert work. Mark Lopes, a deputy assistant administrator, told the AP:

Nothing about USAID’s Cuba programs is covert or classified in any way. We simply carry out activities in a discreet manner to ensure the greatest possible safety of all those involved.

(more…)

January roundup

Filed under Monthly roundup by on February 4, 2012 at 8:43 pm {no comments}

Supporters and foes of USAID’s Cuba programs continued in January debating the efficiency of the agency’s democracy-promotion efforts.
On Jan. 16, CaféFuerte published a sentencing document that has new details of Cuba’s case against American subcontractor Alan Gross. (Download 15 MB document here).
The document shows that Cuban spies began tracking Gross in mid-2004 when he traveled to Cuba to deliver a video camera and medicine to José Manuel Collera Vento, former head of the Freemasons fraternal organization in Cuba.

Marc Wachtenheim, left, and Jose Manuel Collera, also known as Agent Gerardo. Photo: Juventud Rebelde

Gross delivered the package on behalf of Marc Wachtenheim, then director of the Cuba Development Initiative at the Pan American Development Foundation, or PADF, which receives funds from USAID. (more…)

Cuba Money Project goals after first year

Filed under Reporter's notebook by on January 16, 2012 at 2:24 pm {2 comments}

The Cuba Money Project’s five goals for 2011 were to:

  • Publish: Post stories and interviews that give dissidents, bloggers, Cuban government supporters, exiles and others the opportunity to voice their opinion on U.S. government-financed programs in Cuba.
  • Investigate: Use the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, to pursue documents that shed light on U.S. government programs in Cuba.
  • Explore: Travel to Washington, Miami and Havana to interview key sources.
  • Enlighten: Tell stories not just with words, but pictures and video.
  • Network: Connect with people who work for the U.S. and Cuban governments, government contractors, non-profit organizations, universities and other groups. Seek information and feedback. Tap in to the wisdom of the crowd.

I plan much of the same in 2012. I am not satisfied with the quantity or quality of hard data I’ve found since launching the Cuba Money Project in December 2010. But I appreciate the encouragement I’ve gotten from others who would like to see greater transparency and accountability at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department. (more…)

FOIA requests: Same slow tune

Filed under Reporter's notebook by on January 16, 2012 at 1:42 pm {3 comments}

A Cuban sculpture


Over the past year, I have filed more than 100 Freedom of Information Act requests to try to learn more about what becomes of millions of tax dollars that go toward democracy programs in Cuba.
I filed most of the FOIA requests in October 2011. They went to the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department. In terms of documents, I’ve gotten little in return: A 33-page grant proposal and a 10-page report on a $1.47 million audit of USAID’s Cuba programs. Both documents are so heavily redacted that they are practically useless and devoid of information.

I have filed four FOIA appeals so far. See details here. But I haven’t had much to appeal because most of the FOIA requests I have made are being processed. The oldest pending Cuba Money Project request is more than 300 days old.

I think that it’s important to go through the exercise of trying to get these documents, exhausting all administrative channels for obtaining this information. These agencies are not voluntarily providing information to the public beyond scattered disclosures of grant amounts and general program descriptions. I am convinced that someone, somewhere in the federal bureaucracy will eventually agree that there should be a greater degree of transparency and disclosure. (more…)

24 interviews posted on Vimeo

Filed under Video interviews by on January 15, 2012 at 12:43 pm {no comments}


I have posted 24 videos on the Cuba Money Project’s Vimeo channel since early December. They feature interviews with people on both sides of the Florida Straits. They come from all political perspectives, from bloggers who support Cuba’s socialist government to dissidents who oppose it.
Feel free to suggest people that you believe I ought to try to interview in Cuba, South Florida or Washington.

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Accountability

Recipient of Pulitzer Center travel grants in 2010 and 2011.
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