CIA Agent Captured in Cuba
By Eva Golinger
Original:
Postcards from the Revolution: CIA AGENT CAPTURED IN CUBA: An employee of a CIA front organization working in Venezuela was detained in Cuba this week
An article published in the December 12th edition of the New York
Times revealed the detention of a US government contract employee in
Havana this past December 5th. The employee, whose name has not yet
been disclosed, works for Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), one
of the largest US government contractors providing services to the
State Department, the Pentagon and the US Agency for International
Development (USAID). The employee was detained while distributing
cellular telephones, computers and other communications equipment to
Cuban dissident and counterrevolutionary groups that work to promote
US agenda on the Caribbean island.
Last year, the US Congress approved $40 million to "promote
transition to democracy" in Cuba. DAI was awarded the main contract,
"The Cuba Democracy and Contingency Planning Program", with oversight
by State and USAID. The use of a chain of entities and agencies is a
mechanism employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to
channel and filter funding and strategic political support to groups
and individuals that support US agenda abroad. The pretext of
"promoting democracy" is a modern form of CIA subversion tactics,
seeking to infiltrate and penetrate civil society groups and provide
funding to encourage "regime change" in strategically important
nations, such as Venezuela, with governments unwilling to subcomb to
US dominance.
DAI IN VENEZUELA
DAI was contracted in June 2002 by USAID to manage a multimillion
dollar contract in Venezuela, just two months after the failed coup
d'etat against President Hugo Chávez. Prior to this date, USAID had
no operations in Venezuela, not even an office in the Embassy. DAI
was charged with opening the Office for Transition Initiatives (OTI),
a specialized branch of USAID that manages large quantities of liquid
funds destined for organizations and political parties favorable to
Washington in countries of strategic interest that are undergoing
political crises.
The first contract between USAID and DAI for its Venezuela operations
authorized $10 million for a two year period. DAI opened its doors in
the Wall Street of Caracas, El Rosal, in August 2002, and began to
immediately fund the same groups that just months earlier had
executed - unsuccessfully - the coup against President Chávez. The
USAID/DAI funds in Venezuela were distributed to organizations such
as Fedecámaras and the Confederación de Trabajadores Venezolanos
(CTV), two of the principal entities that had led the coup in April
2002 and that later headed another attempt to oust Chávez by imposing
an economic sabotage and oil industry strike that crippled the
nation's economy. One contract between DAI and these organizations,
dated December 2002, awarded more than $10,000 to help design radio
and television propaganda against President Chávez. During that time
period, Venezuela experienced one of the most viscious media wars in
history. Private television and radio stations, together with print
media, devoted non-stop programming to opposition propaganda for 64
days, 24 hours a day.
In February 2003, DAI began to fund a recently created group named
Súmate, led by Maria Corina Machado, one of the signators of the
"Carmona Decree", the famous dictatorial decree that dissolved all of
Venezuela's democratic institutions during the brief April 2002 coup
d'etat. Súmate soon became the principal opposition organization
directing campaigns against President Chávez, including the August
2004 recall referendum. The three main agencies from Washington
operating in Venezuela at that time, USAID, DAI and the National
Endowment for Democracy ("NED"), invested more than $9 million in the
opposition campaign to oust Chávez via recall referendum, without
success. Chávez won with a 60-40 landslide victory.
USAID, which still maintains its presence through the OTI and DAI in
Venezuela, had originally announced that it would not remain in the
country for more than a two year period. Then chief of the OTI in
Venezuela, Ronald Ulrich, publically affirmed this notion in March
2003, "This program will be finished in two years, as has happened
with similiar initiatives in other countries, the office will close
in the time period stated.Time is always of the essence".
Technically, the OTI are USAID's rapid response teams, equipped with
large amounts of liquid funds and a specialized personnel capable of
"resolving a crisis" in a way favorable to US interests. In the
document establishing the OTI's operations in Venezuela, the
intentions of those behind its creation were clear, "In recent
months, his popularity has waned and political tensions have risen
dramatically as President Chávez has implemented several
controversial reforms.The current situation augers strongly for rapid
US government engagement."
To date, the OTI still remains in Venezuela, with DAI as its
principal contractor. But now, four other entities share USAID's
multimillion dollar pie in Caracas: International Republican
Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs (NDI), Freedom House, and the PanAmerican Development
Foundation (PADF). Of the 64 groups funded from 2002-2004 with
approximately $5 million annually, today the OTI funds more than 533
organizations, political parties, programs and projects, mainly in
opposition sectors, with an annual budget surpassing $7 million. Its
presence has not only remained, but has grown. Obviously this is due
to one very simple reason: the original objetive has still not been
obtained; the overthrow or removal of President Hugo Chávez.
DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES INC. IS A CIA FRONT ORGANIZATION
This organization dedicated to destabilizing governments unfavorable
to US interests has now made its appearance in Cuba, with millions of
dollars destined to destroy the Cuban revolution. Ex CIA officer
Phillip Agee affirmed that DAI, USAID and NED "are instruments of the
US Embassy and behind these three organizations is the CIA." The
contract between USAID and DAI in Venezuela confirms this fact, "The
field representative will maintain close collaboration with other
embassy offices in identifying opportunities, selecting partners and
ensuring the program remains consistent with US foreign policy."
There is no doubt that "selecting partners" is another term for
"recluting agents" and "consistent with US foreign policy" means
"promoting Washington's interests", despite issues of sovereignty.
Clearly, all DAI activities are directly coordinated by the US
Embassy, a fact which negates the "private" nature of the
organization.
The detention of a DAI employee is a very important step to impede
destabilization and subversion inside Cuba. This episode also
confirms that there has been no change of policy with the Obama
Administration towards Cuba - the same tactics of espionage,
infiltration and subversion are still being actively employed against
one of Washington's oldest adversaries.
VENEZUELA SHOULD ALSO EXPELL DAI
Now that Cuba has exposed the intelligence operations that DAI was
engaging in (recluting agents, infiltrating political groups and
distributing resources destined to promote destabilization and regime
change are all intelligence activities and illegal), the Venezuelan
government should respond firmly by expelling this grave threat from
the country. DAI has now been operating in Venezuela for over seven
and a half years, feeding the conflict with more than $50 million
dollars and promoting destabilization, counterrevolution, media
warfare and sabotage.
In an ironic twist, currently in the United States five Cuban
citizens are imprisoned on charges of alleged espionage, yet their
actions in US territory were not directed towards harming US
interests. But the DAI employee detained in Cuba - working for a CIA
front company - was engaged in activities intended to directly harm
and destabilize the Cuban government. The distribution of materials
to be used for political purposes by a foreign government with the
intent of promoting regime change in a nation not favorable to US
interests is clearly a violation of sovereignty and an act of
espionage.
Development Alternatives, Inc. is one of the largest US government
contractors in the world. Currently, DAI has a $50 million contract
in Afghanistan. In Latin America, DAI is presently operating in
Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Haití, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Perú, República Dominicana and
Venezuela.
By Eva Golinger
Original:
Postcards from the Revolution: CIA AGENT CAPTURED IN CUBA: An employee of a CIA front organization working in Venezuela was detained in Cuba this week
An article published in the December 12th edition of the New York
Times revealed the detention of a US government contract employee in
Havana this past December 5th. The employee, whose name has not yet
been disclosed, works for Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), one
of the largest US government contractors providing services to the
State Department, the Pentagon and the US Agency for International
Development (USAID). The employee was detained while distributing
cellular telephones, computers and other communications equipment to
Cuban dissident and counterrevolutionary groups that work to promote
US agenda on the Caribbean island.
Last year, the US Congress approved $40 million to "promote
transition to democracy" in Cuba. DAI was awarded the main contract,
"The Cuba Democracy and Contingency Planning Program", with oversight
by State and USAID. The use of a chain of entities and agencies is a
mechanism employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to
channel and filter funding and strategic political support to groups
and individuals that support US agenda abroad. The pretext of
"promoting democracy" is a modern form of CIA subversion tactics,
seeking to infiltrate and penetrate civil society groups and provide
funding to encourage "regime change" in strategically important
nations, such as Venezuela, with governments unwilling to subcomb to
US dominance.
DAI IN VENEZUELA
DAI was contracted in June 2002 by USAID to manage a multimillion
dollar contract in Venezuela, just two months after the failed coup
d'etat against President Hugo Chávez. Prior to this date, USAID had
no operations in Venezuela, not even an office in the Embassy. DAI
was charged with opening the Office for Transition Initiatives (OTI),
a specialized branch of USAID that manages large quantities of liquid
funds destined for organizations and political parties favorable to
Washington in countries of strategic interest that are undergoing
political crises.
The first contract between USAID and DAI for its Venezuela operations
authorized $10 million for a two year period. DAI opened its doors in
the Wall Street of Caracas, El Rosal, in August 2002, and began to
immediately fund the same groups that just months earlier had
executed - unsuccessfully - the coup against President Chávez. The
USAID/DAI funds in Venezuela were distributed to organizations such
as Fedecámaras and the Confederación de Trabajadores Venezolanos
(CTV), two of the principal entities that had led the coup in April
2002 and that later headed another attempt to oust Chávez by imposing
an economic sabotage and oil industry strike that crippled the
nation's economy. One contract between DAI and these organizations,
dated December 2002, awarded more than $10,000 to help design radio
and television propaganda against President Chávez. During that time
period, Venezuela experienced one of the most viscious media wars in
history. Private television and radio stations, together with print
media, devoted non-stop programming to opposition propaganda for 64
days, 24 hours a day.
In February 2003, DAI began to fund a recently created group named
Súmate, led by Maria Corina Machado, one of the signators of the
"Carmona Decree", the famous dictatorial decree that dissolved all of
Venezuela's democratic institutions during the brief April 2002 coup
d'etat. Súmate soon became the principal opposition organization
directing campaigns against President Chávez, including the August
2004 recall referendum. The three main agencies from Washington
operating in Venezuela at that time, USAID, DAI and the National
Endowment for Democracy ("NED"), invested more than $9 million in the
opposition campaign to oust Chávez via recall referendum, without
success. Chávez won with a 60-40 landslide victory.
USAID, which still maintains its presence through the OTI and DAI in
Venezuela, had originally announced that it would not remain in the
country for more than a two year period. Then chief of the OTI in
Venezuela, Ronald Ulrich, publically affirmed this notion in March
2003, "This program will be finished in two years, as has happened
with similiar initiatives in other countries, the office will close
in the time period stated.Time is always of the essence".
Technically, the OTI are USAID's rapid response teams, equipped with
large amounts of liquid funds and a specialized personnel capable of
"resolving a crisis" in a way favorable to US interests. In the
document establishing the OTI's operations in Venezuela, the
intentions of those behind its creation were clear, "In recent
months, his popularity has waned and political tensions have risen
dramatically as President Chávez has implemented several
controversial reforms.The current situation augers strongly for rapid
US government engagement."
To date, the OTI still remains in Venezuela, with DAI as its
principal contractor. But now, four other entities share USAID's
multimillion dollar pie in Caracas: International Republican
Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs (NDI), Freedom House, and the PanAmerican Development
Foundation (PADF). Of the 64 groups funded from 2002-2004 with
approximately $5 million annually, today the OTI funds more than 533
organizations, political parties, programs and projects, mainly in
opposition sectors, with an annual budget surpassing $7 million. Its
presence has not only remained, but has grown. Obviously this is due
to one very simple reason: the original objetive has still not been
obtained; the overthrow or removal of President Hugo Chávez.
DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES INC. IS A CIA FRONT ORGANIZATION
This organization dedicated to destabilizing governments unfavorable
to US interests has now made its appearance in Cuba, with millions of
dollars destined to destroy the Cuban revolution. Ex CIA officer
Phillip Agee affirmed that DAI, USAID and NED "are instruments of the
US Embassy and behind these three organizations is the CIA." The
contract between USAID and DAI in Venezuela confirms this fact, "The
field representative will maintain close collaboration with other
embassy offices in identifying opportunities, selecting partners and
ensuring the program remains consistent with US foreign policy."
There is no doubt that "selecting partners" is another term for
"recluting agents" and "consistent with US foreign policy" means
"promoting Washington's interests", despite issues of sovereignty.
Clearly, all DAI activities are directly coordinated by the US
Embassy, a fact which negates the "private" nature of the
organization.
The detention of a DAI employee is a very important step to impede
destabilization and subversion inside Cuba. This episode also
confirms that there has been no change of policy with the Obama
Administration towards Cuba - the same tactics of espionage,
infiltration and subversion are still being actively employed against
one of Washington's oldest adversaries.
VENEZUELA SHOULD ALSO EXPELL DAI
Now that Cuba has exposed the intelligence operations that DAI was
engaging in (recluting agents, infiltrating political groups and
distributing resources destined to promote destabilization and regime
change are all intelligence activities and illegal), the Venezuelan
government should respond firmly by expelling this grave threat from
the country. DAI has now been operating in Venezuela for over seven
and a half years, feeding the conflict with more than $50 million
dollars and promoting destabilization, counterrevolution, media
warfare and sabotage.
In an ironic twist, currently in the United States five Cuban
citizens are imprisoned on charges of alleged espionage, yet their
actions in US territory were not directed towards harming US
interests. But the DAI employee detained in Cuba - working for a CIA
front company - was engaged in activities intended to directly harm
and destabilize the Cuban government. The distribution of materials
to be used for political purposes by a foreign government with the
intent of promoting regime change in a nation not favorable to US
interests is clearly a violation of sovereignty and an act of
espionage.
Development Alternatives, Inc. is one of the largest US government
contractors in the world. Currently, DAI has a $50 million contract
in Afghanistan. In Latin America, DAI is presently operating in
Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Haití, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Perú, República Dominicana and
Venezuela.
