Over the past three decades, the U.S. government has spent more than $1 billion for broadcasting to Cuba and for democracy programs on the island. On Oct. 31, the Congressional Research Service, or CRS reported: From FY1984 through FY2018, Congress appropriated about $882 million for broadcasting to Cuba. The Trump Administration’s FY2019 request is for … Read more
In Jan. 26, 2015, the U.S. Agency for International Development suspended the non-profit company that ran a Cuba program called “Hastening the Transition to Democracy.” International Relief & Development, or IRD, had received at least $3.5 million for Cuba projects from September 2011 to September 2014. USAID accused IRD of reckless spending and mismanaging contracts, … Read more
The U.S. government paid at least $227 million for democracy-promotion projects from 2001 to 2017. A detailed list shows that the projects ranged from complex multimillion-dollar initiatives to grants of less than $50,000. The U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department managed most of the projects. Annual funding peaked at $34 million in 2008 during … Read more