USAID/NED/State Department Companies
running projects in post December 2014 Cuba

IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board) - Civil Society, Education and Media Development - www.irex.org

Embassy tweet on IREX
This US organization bills itself as "an international nonprofit organization providing thought leadership and innovative programs to promote positive lasting change globally." It has been involved in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. It was banned from the last 3. It is also active across the Arab world.

In January 2016, they offered "Cuban citizens" a scholarship to study profit management where the student "Must return to Cuba after completion of the program." This scholarship was the subject of a tweet from the US embassy, left. Their most notable involvement in Cuba prior to this is their appointment of Pablo Diaz, the founder and head of the right wing Diario de Cuba, as an IREX fellow.

Roots of Hope - www.rootsofhope.org

This Miami based organization, the largest nonprofit working youth issues in Cuba, refuses to accept US government funds, but several board members were revealed to have worked behind the scenes with the infamous ZunZuneo program to set up an alternate social media and entrap Cubans. See articles on Roots of Hope. Although this occurred in 2014, Roots of Hope is still operating in Cuba.

Articles/Artículos

IREX

How foreign NGOs destroy Russia  1/7/2016 Pravda: "Let's take a look at well-known political NGOs. Many of them do not work in Russia officially anymore. However, there are organizations that still work on the territory of the Russian Federation, such as The Council for International Research and Exchanges, or IREX. The organization was created in 1968 to oversee exchange issues between the United States, Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union within the scope of educational, scientific and socio-political programs. IREX really can hardly be called a "non-profit" organization. Officially, the organization is registered as an independent foundation. In fact, the lion's share of its annual financial turnover - about $60 million - consists of funding from the USAID and the Office for Culture and Education of the US State Department."

W. Robert Pearson  1/1/2016 Middle East Institute: "Amb. Pearson is a retired professional Foreign Service Officer who served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey from 2000 to 2003. He was Director General of the U.S. Foreign Service from 2003 to 2006, repositioning the American Foreign Service to meet the new challenges of the 21st century and winning two national awards for his efforts. He served from 2008 to 2014 as president of IREX, an international development NGO based in Washington, spearheading its expansion to reach more than 125 countries worldwide."

Pablo Diaz, IREX Fellow  1/1/2012 IREX: "Pablo Diaz, Cuba, is the founder, director and editor in chief of Diario de Cuba (The Daily of Cuba), an online journalistic platform dedicated to analysis of political, economic, social, and cultural developments in the country. Based in Madrid, Diario de Cuba works closely with independent journalists in Cuba and provides them with an opportunity to publish articles and opinion pieces that would otherwise be censored by the government. Despite low levels of internet connectivity in Cuba, Diario de Cuba utilizes social media networks and web 2.0 tools to inform audiences on the island and promote dialogue and debate between its readers."

Media Assistance Concept Paper, USAID/Belarus  5/15/2002 USAID: "My findings about the basic operating conditions of the Belarusian non-state media largely concur with the IREX’s assessments in its quarterly report (Oct.-Dec., 2001), workplan (11-01-01 to 4-30-02) and Media Sustainability Index Report (2001). While the latter Index assigned low scores to all five studied attributes of independentmmedia sustainability (legal norms, professional journalism, plurality and objectivity of news, business management and supporting institutions), I also observed specific success stories in all five attribute areas."

USAID/IREX Institutional Parnerships Project  12/31/1997 USAID: "IREX signed 22 partnership subagreements worth about $25 million in USAID provided funds in the spring of 1995. As this fiscal year and our third full year running the project both end, only one of the 22 is still drawing down its funds-all others have closed out their projects and have submitted or are working on their wrap-up reports. Our own time and funding as project managers ends on March 31, 1998."

Roots of Hope

Roots of Hope Members Helped USAID's 'Cuban Twitter' Project - Report  4/23/2014 Latin Post: "The U.S. Agency for International Development's controversial "Cuban Twitter" initiative tried to shift its social media program into the hands of Roots of Hope, a nonprofit organization for young Cuban-Americans, according to a new report from The Associated Press. While Roots of Hope rejected the shift, some board members from the organization have been found connected to USAID's project."

New leaks: Cuban-US organization leaders helped 'Cuban Twitter'  4/22/2014 Russia Today: "Leaders of the largest nonprofit for young Cuban-Americans, which explicitly refused to accept US government funds, in fact supported Washington’s secret program aimed at toppling Cuba’s government, a leaked report reveals."

Cuban-American youth nonprofit secretly helped with U.S.-built ‘Cuban Twitter’  4/22/2014 AP: "Leaders of Roots of Hope, a Cuban-American nonprofit, worked as consultants for the U.S.'s 'Cuban Twitter,' a network aimed at undermining the Cuban government. The disclosure could have wide repercussions for one of the most visible Cuban-American organizations."

#USAID financió a Roots of Hope para apoyo estratégico al #ZunZuneo  4/22/2014 Descubriendo Verdades: "Los líderes de la mayor organización sin fines de lucro de jóvenes cubanoestadunidenses dieron un silencioso apoyo estratégico al llamado Twitter cubano, un programa secreto del gobierno federal, estableciendo contactos entre contratistas y potenciales inversores e incluso fungiendo como consultores pagados, según comprobó The Associated Press."

Hackathon for Cuba proposes solutions for island’s communications restrictions  2/4/2014 Knight Foundation: "Roots of Hope, a Miami-based nonprofit that empowers “youth to become authors of their own future,” created Hackathon for Cuba to explore ways technology can help people glean information outside the island… The inspiration for the hackathon came from Yoanni Sanchez, Cuba’s leading blogger."

Links/Enlaces

www.irex.org

www.rootsofhope.org

Funding Dissidents

The US, the Exiled Plantocracy and Race, a summary of our materials on this topic

NED on AfroCubaWeb

The Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 2014-2015 - has NED funding lists for Cuba

The Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 2011-2013 - has NED funding lists for Cuba

A Worldwide Battle of Life and Death, Parts I, II, and III Alberto Jones, 12/25/09

Una Batalla Mundial de Vida o Muerte, I, II, y III, 25/12/09

Invoking MLK and Rosa Parks in Cuban Exile Politics, Claude Betancourt, 5/30/09: Brothers to the Rescue, Florida's MLK Institute for Nonviolence, and manipulating Cuban dissidents.

The Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 2008-2010 - has NED funding lists for Cuba

The Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 2007 - has NED funding lists for Cuba

Cuban American business and terrorism, 2005

Funding Dissidents: 2002

Funding Dissidents: 2001

Dissidents and Race, 2001

Funding Dissidents: 2000 and before

Police Killing Black people in Florida - never happens in Cuba, since 1959

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

Electronic mail
acw_AT_afrocubaweb.com [replace _AT_ with @]

[AfroCubaWeb] [Site Map] [Music] [Arts] [Authors] [News] [Search this site]

USAID/NED/State Department Companies running projects in post December 2014 Cuba