Cuba’s highest court upheld the conviction and 15-year jail sentence of American subcontractor Alan Gross, who was arrested in 2009 while doing U.S. government-financed democracy work in Cuba, Cuba’s state-run press reported on Aug. 5. Critics of the Castro government were outraged. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said in a statement published on Capitol Hill Cubans [...]
July roundup
Cuba’s highest court on July 22 heard the appeal of Alan Gross, the U.S. government subcontractor convicted of violating Cuban law while carrying out a USAID democracy project on the island. Gross “reiterated that he never had any intention of hurting the Cuban government or its people, and that he has always believed — and [...]
World Learning: A global enterprise
World Learning, an American non-profit organization that is competing for the chance to run a new USAID-financed youth program in Cuba, operates in 70 countries around the world and has an annual budget of more than $100 million. The organization, based in Brattleboro, Vermont, has some 1,100 staffers, including about 350 in the U.S. It [...]
June roundup
As $20 million in democracy funds for Cuba remained hung up in Congress, the State Department responded to Sen. John Kerry’s questions and concerns about the programs. According to an internal memo that the Cuba Money Project made public on June 3, the State Department told Kerry: … we designed these new programs to strengthen [...]
Beatriz Roque: Dissidents would help children, not hurt them
State-run media organizations in Cuba have given extensive coverage to a U.S. government plan to boost expression among Cubans ages 12 to 24. The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, announced on June 13 that it plans to award two grants totaling $6 million as part of a program called, “Making Spaces: Places for [...]
Wanted: Managers for democracy programs in Cuba
The U.S. Agency for International Development announced earlier this week that it is looking for managers to run its democracy programs in Cuba. The salary range is $89,033 to $136,771 per year. The jobs are based in Washington, D.C. From the job notice: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) seeks experienced Program Managers with [...]