U.S. advisor calls for elimination of subversive efforts in Cuba

FAILED projects undertaken by the U.S. to promote subversion in Cuba have a problematic history. They have been characterized by embezzlement and poor management, are highly politicized, and should be eliminated, according to Fulton Armstrong, advisor to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Armstrong's assessment is contained within an article entitled ‘It's time to clean up regime-change programs’ published by The Miami Herald and posted by www.cubadebate.cu on December 27.

Armstrong bases his criticism of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on his three-year experience as the principal investigator focusing on Cuba and Latin America for the Senate Committee

The investigator, who worked on Cuban issues for the National Security Council during William Clinton's two administrations (1993-1997 and 1997-2001), reports that successes of the program are exaggerated and even fabricated, as, for example, is the case with the alleged establishment of a network of independent libraries.

He indicated that his work for the Senate Committee consisted of attempting to verify that funds were used efficiently and in accordance with U.S. law - some $20 million a year, although 45 million was allocated in 2009.

Armstrong states in the article that his efforts were obstructed by State Department and USAID officials who refused to supply information about programs which had all the characteristics of undercover intelligence operations - secrecy, the use of encryption and the lack of transparency as to the government's role.

In his statements, Armstrong refers to Alan Gross, a USAID contract employee, who was arrested in Havana in December 2009, convicted of carrying out subversive undercover operations in the country and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Armstrong emphasizes that when a Central Intelligence Agency operation of this kind goes wrong and an agent is detained, Washington usually follows the strategy of negotiating for his release, but when an undercover USAID employee is arrested, political rhetoric is escalated, more money is awarded to the program involved and the government refuses to make any comment.

The advisor recounts that he is still asking himself who Alan Gross is, and in fact, after his arrest, the U.S. State Department vehemently denied any knowledge of him. Even some U.S. diplomats in Havana thought he was working for the CIA, according to Armstrong.

Gross was found guilty of crimes against the independence or territorial integrity of the state and sentenced accordingly, after evidence revealed he had illegally imported electronic telecommunications equipment into the country, with the intention of establishing internal computer networks as part of a plan to promote destabilization and subversion of Cuba's constitutional order.