This article points to the fact that the current administration has done absolutely nothing to promote living standards and Democracy in our own backyard, but has only encouraged these countries to remain impoverished and Despotic, that is, until they have a need for them.
Here's an excerpt relating to Cuba.
A perfect example of accomplishing exactly nothing can be found in a report issued last week by our Government Accountability Office, the Congressionally-mandated organization that helps our legislators fulfill their oversight responsibilities.
The GAO report found that US funds targeted to promote democracy in Cuba have been used to buy items like a gas chain saw, computer gaming equipment and software (including Nintendo Game Boys and Sony PlayStations), a mountain bike, leather coats, cashmere sweaters, crab meat and Godiva chocolates. According to the report, one grantee "could not justify some purchases made with USAID funds."
Reuters reported that the GAO found little oversight and accountability in the program, which spent "$76 million between 1996 and 2005 to support Cuban dissidents, independent journalists, academics and others." It also found that 95 percent of the grants were issued without competitive bids.
The auditors questioned checks written out to some staff members, questionable travel expenses, and payments to a manager's family. One group acknowledged selling books it was supposed to distribute under the democracy-promoting program.
Out of 10 recipients of public money reviewed by the auditors, three failed to keep adequate financial records, the GAO said. A lot of the money was used to pay smugglers, or "mules," to avoid US restrictions on taking goods to Cuba.
Critics have long charged that such grants are aimed more at winning votes in Miami than triggering political change on the communist island, where Castro has ruled since his 1959 revolution. Imagine that! To protect recipients from prosecution, none of the money from the USAID or the State Department is paid in cash to people in Cuba. A Cuban law can impose jail sentences on citizens who receive money. Instead, the funds are distributed to Cuban-American groups in Miami, the heartland of opposition to Cuban president Fidel Castro, and in Washington, and are supposed to be used to buy medicines, books, short-wave radios, and other goods that are smuggled into Cuba.
President Bush has proposed increasing spending on Cuba-related programs, including propaganda transmissions by Radio and TV Marti, by $80 million over the next two years.
Source: How Long Is Long Enough?
Technorati Tags: Politics
