Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Respect the Sovereignty of Nations

Gerald Sussman

The New York Times - April 15, 2014

Recent reports of U.S.A.I.D.’s covert involvement in a Twitter-like propaganda project in Cuba, obviously intended to help overthrow that country’s government, once again undermine that agency’s claims to supporting economic development and giving humanitarian assistance to poor countries. However, this comes as no real surprise to anyone familiar with its past support of antidemocratic and regime-change efforts in various parts of the world.

In the 1960s and early 70s, U.S.A.I.D. was involved, in close collaboration with the C.I.A., in funding police training programs (Office of Public Safety) and similar efforts for right-wing forces or military juntas in a number states in Asia (Taiwan, South Vietnam, Laos), Europe (Greece) and Latin America (Uruguay, Brazil, Guatemala). Until it was shut down by Congress in 1974, the O.P.S. was found to be engaging in torture training techniques. More recently, U.S.A.I.D., involved in what it calls “democracy promotion,” has encouraged local efforts to overturn governments in various parts of the world, including financial support for the “color revolutions” of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which clearly were designed to both open markets for transnational capital in the region and extend the reach of NATO closer to Moscow's doorstep.

Read more.....

No comments:

Post a Comment