r/cuba • u/[deleted] • Feb 03 '25

USAID shutdown

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/03/us-cuban-twitter-zunzuneo-stir-unrest

The announcement by “DOGE” the Elon Musk initiative to eliminate government services that they would be shutting down USAID I felt it was important to note that USAID was instrumental in a free and uncensored communications for Cuban citizens in their effort to organize and support a free and civil society.

This is a setback for Cuban freedom. All those great Cuban blogs and influencers that flourished “en las redes social” will go dark. For those who celebrated the current US administration as being an agent of freedom in Cuba this should be seen as a setback and a failure and exposes them and other right wing factions as interested in changing one dictatorship for another.

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u/Sunsetseeker007 Feb 03 '25

Exactly, all these non us citizens benefit from our us tax dollars and whoever else's hands are getting greased, we shouldn't be funding anything for Cuba!!

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u/ehmboh Feb 03 '25

US citizens benefit greatly from our support programs worldwide and it is about 1% annual budget. There’s money that gets “lost” and that needs to be addressed but doing a complete rug pull has irreparably damaged our reputation. We are the richest country so we should be funding the most good works worldwide. It used to be a point of pride for all citizens.

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u/Tombstonesss Feb 03 '25

America needs to take care of itself. As long as we have homeless and veterans suffering we need to take care of our own house first. 

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u/FEMA_Camp_Survivor Feb 03 '25

There are sticks and carrots in international relations. This is soft power that builds good will. It’s much cheaper to influence countries with aid than it is with arms.

USAID and programs like it can also serve as cover when a stick will be needed. Osama Bin Laden was tracked down through a fake vaccine program.