Saturday, April 5, 2014

Cuba controversy - Castro cries foul, US pleads innocence

Cuba controversy: Castro cries foul, US pleads innocence
By Andrew Rogers - Friday, April 4, 2014

Cuban leader Raúl Castro has decried "subversive" tactics by the US
following reports that the latter's Agency for International Development
​ (USAID) had introduced a mobile phone-based network into Cuba aimed at
undermining the communist state.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jay Carney denied that the
program was covert or illegal in a briefing with journalists.

E-mailStart a Free Trial
USAID also defended its actions, saying that it was "proud" of its work
to promote human rights and universal freedoms in Cuba, and that the US
had a longstanding policy of helping Cubans increase their ability to
communicate with each other and the outside world.

The social network, known as ZunZuneo, operated between 2010 and 2012,
and reached some 40,000 users at its peak.

The program was not covert, was conducted in accordance with US law and
was debated in congress, Carney said.

When implementing programs in "non-permissive" environments such as
Cuba, the US has taken steps to be discreet in order to protect
practitioners and the public, he added.

Regarding White House involvement, Carney said that President Barack
Obama and his administration supported efforts to help Cubans
communicate more easily, and involvement would have been comparable to
other development programs of this type.

This will likely do little however to sooth tempers in Cuba, where
Castro said in reference to recent developments in Ukraine and Venezuela
that "these events confirm that wherever there is a government which
doesn't coincide with the interests of power circles in the United
States and some of its European allies, it becomes a target for
subversive campaigns," according to state news agency Granma.

Reports of the US-developed social network being introduced into Cuba
validate warnings by the Cuban leader regarding "unconventional war
methods" on the part of the US, Granma added.

Source: Cuba controversy: Castro cries foul, US pleads innocence -
BNamericas -
http://www.bnamericas.com/news/telecommunications/cuba-controversy-castro-cries-foul-us-pleads-innocence

No comments:

Post a Comment