USAID and State Department operations in Cuba are semi-clandestine “political programs” that are managed unlike almost every other U.S. development program in the world, former USAID official Gerald Hyman said Friday. Hyman said he is not surprised that USAID is reluctant to disclose information about its Cuba programs in response to Freedom of Information Act, [...]
$2 million Cuba project: Redacted
This is the heavily redacted 33-page winning proposal for a $2-million Cuba project entitled, “Creating Networks and Empowering Communities.” The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, sent me the document in response to a Freedom of Information Act request I filed in March 2011. Seeing all the pages at once gives you an idea [...]
USAID keeps Cuba project secret to protect “personal privacy”
The U.S. Agency for International Development declined to identify the recipient of a $2 million-Cuba grant even though the apparent winner is readily available on a government-run website, USAspending.gov. USAID redacted almost the entire 33-page grant proposal, which I requested on March 13 through the Freedom of Information Act and received today. The agency said [...]
Nine organizations share $8.6 million in Cuba grants
Nine companies won more than $8.6 million in Cuba grants from Sept. 1 to Sept. 27, federal records show. Below are the companies, amounts and the titles or descriptions of the Cuba programs. National Endowment for Democracy (NED) – $2,970,297.00. Supporting Democracy Rights, Political Pluralism and Independent Civil Society. Creative Associates International (CAI) – $2,000,000.00. [...]
September roundup
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson journeyed to Havana in early September, saying he was on a mission to secure the release of jailed American subcontractor Alan Gross. He told the Associated Press that he had promised Judy Gross that he would see her husband in jail. But then he called Gross “an American hostage,” [...]
Just don’t expedite your FOIA request
In 2010, the State Department took an average of 144 days to process simple Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, requests, 284 days for complex requests and 435 days for expedited requests, according to the agency’s 2010 FOIA report (see Page 18). So expedited requests take three times longer than simple requests? How odd. Government [...]