Democracy aid from abroad helps Cuban dissidents endure police harassment, hostility and 24-hour surveillance, activist Jorge Luis García Pérez said. Life for dissidents and political prisoners is “as hard as you can imagine,” García said. “There is a repressive atmosphere up and down the country.” García, nicknamed Antúnez, has spent 17 years and 38 days [...]
Interview with Elizardo Sanchez
Elizardo Sanchez, a former political prisoner, said his human rights organization, has never received money directly from the U.S. government. He said: We’ve never gotten a single dollar of those funds. We would lose credibility if we received federal funds. At times we have received assistance, including money, from NGOs in the United States that [...]
Interview with Miriam Leiva
Miriam Leiva, a founding member of Damas de Blanco, said it is hard to give thanks for U.S. democracy aid when that money can lead to dissidents’ arrest. She said: We supply the prisoners. We’re the repressed ones. Nonetheless, most of that money stays in Miami. Leiva said she appreciates the medicine and clothes that [...]
Interview with Martha Beatriz Roque
Martha Beatriz Roque, a dissident leader and former political prisoner, said money from abroad is vital to the democracy movement in Cuba. Money is needed for travel within the island and other operating expenses, she said. If four activists wanted to travel to Santa Clara in central Cuba, for instance, such a trip might cost [...]
Up to $30 million for Internet freedom projects in Cuba, other nations
The State Department plans to spend up to $30 million for Internet freedom projects in Cuba and other nations. In a Jan. 11 notice (download PDF), the agency solicited project ideas from U.S. organizations interested in carrying out Internet freedom projects in Cuba and other nations. Feb. 7 was the deadline. The State Department has [...]
Billions for company that hired Alan Gross
The Maryland company that hired American development worker Alan Gross won more than $2.7 billion in USAID contracts from 2000 to the third quarter of 2009, statistics show. Development Alternatives Inc., or DAI, sent Gross to Cuba as part of a USAID-financed democracy program. Cuban authorities accused Gross of setting up an illegal satellite communications [...]