Okay, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but perhaps only because Bosnia and Bosnian so-called democracy activists keep popping up as a hub “color revolutions.”  First there was Otpor.  It’s well acknowledged that it was funded by NED, IRI, and NDI that were in turn funded by USAID.  (Complex funding streams too far beyond the scope of this diary to list the various connections, but for a peek at how this works, check out Robert Parry’s A Shadow US Foreign Policy)  After the success in unseating Milosevic, Otpor was reconfigured into the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies.  The operation claims that it doesn’t receive any government funding.

Okay – only covert non-monetary ties:

In 2011, the hacker collective Anonymous broke into the computer network of corporate intelligence agency Stratfor, and the subsequently leaked e-mails were published by WikiLeaks.[20] Included was correspondence between Srda Popovic and analysts at Stratfor, and Wikileaks tweeted that CANVAS was “used by Stratfor to spy on opposition groups.

Now comes an AP and Guardian report: US agency infiltrated Cuban hip-hop scene to spark youth unrest

It has emerged as the latest covert weapon in the US government’s hapless attempts to unseat Cuba’s communist government.

Like its previous efforts, including exploding cigars, Cuban Twitter and the botched Bay of Pigs invasion, the attempt to co-opt rappers ended in ignominious failure, new documents have shown.
For more than two years, the American development aid organisation USAid has been secretly trying to infiltrate Cuba’s underground hip-hop movement, according to records obtained by the Associated Press.
…

US democracy exportation never sleeps.

…
The programme is laid out in documents involving Creative Associates International, a Washington contractor paid millions of dollars to undermine the Cuban government. The thousands of pages include contracts, emails, preserved chats, budgets, expense reports, power points, photographs and passports.
…

And who is Creative Associates International?  An NGO that was started by and employs very well meaning folks.  Who just happened to be funded by USAID.  Apparently only funded by USAID.

The Bosnian connection:

At first, the hip-hop operation was run in Cuba by Serbian contractor Rajko Bozic. His project was inspired by the protest concerts of the student movement that helped undermine former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.
…
Bozic focused much of his efforts on Los Aldeanos, a hip-hop group frustrated by official pressure and widely respected by Cuban youth for its hard-hitting lyrics.
…

Because Cuban hip-hop groups know the path to world fame and wealth runs through Serbia?  Creative hasn’t issued a statement, but USAID has.  Claiming nothing covert was done and the activity was to strengthen civil society.  As if the US gives a rat’s ass about Cuban civil society.   But why did this non-covert USAID funding use money transfer methods not unlike that of drug cartels or Mitt Romney?  

Creative used a Panama front company and a bank in Lichtenstein to hide the money trail from Cuba, where thousands of dollars went to fund a TV programne starring Los Aldeanos. It was distributed on DVDs to circumvent Cuba’s censors.

The world might be a better place if all this so-called NGOs were shut down.  Including Freedom House which would probably make Eleanor Roosevelt cry to see what it has been turned into:  

The board is currently chaired by William H. Taft IV. Taft assumed chairmanship of the board in January 2009, succeeding Peter Ackerman. Other current board members include Kenneth Adelman, Farooq Kathwari, Azar Nafisi, Mark Palmer, P. J. O’Rourke, and Lawrence Lessig,[1] while past board-members have included Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Samuel Huntington, Mara Liasson, Otto Reich, Donald Rumsfeld, Whitney North Seymour, Paul Wolfowitz, Steve Forbes, and Bayard Rustin.

Where war criminals meet for tea?  

Update 12/17/14

US global aid chief to resign; oversaw secret Cuba programs

USAID, under Shah, drew intense criticism from some U.S. lawmakers and the Cuban government for its Cuba programs. An AP investigation this year revealed the agency – with the help of another Washington-based contractor – created a Twitter-like service, staged a health workshop to recruit activists and infiltrated the island’s hip-hop community.

Following the AP’s disclosures, the agency prepared internal rules that would effectively end risky undercover work in hostile countries. The AP found USAID and its contractor, Creative Associates International, concealed their involvement in the Cuban programs – setting up front companies, routing money through overseas bank transactions and fashioning elaborate cover stories.

Glad this wasn’t overlooked or dismissed in the negotiations with Cuba.

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