Using front companies with a Cayman Islands bank account, the U.S. Agency for International Development, not the CIA, created a social-media project that starting in 2010 aimed to sow disruption in Cuba. The plan was to use “non-controversial content” like news on soccer and music via text messaging to get around Cuba’s Internet restrictions.
Unbeknownst to the Cubans, the U.S. government and its contractors were snatching up their private data to use it for political purposes. USAID, which is known for overseeing the distribution of billions of aid dollars, defended itself, saying, “We work all over the world to help people exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms, and give them access to tools to improve their lives and connect with the outside world.”
However, as Sen. Patrick Leahy pointed out, there was little done to protect unknowing young Cubans who were now associated with U.S. government activity. Read more.
{Andy Heller-Matzav.com Newscenter}
