Category Archives: Cuba

Dismantling USAID: Yes, No, Maybe?

In late 1980, more than a year after the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution, the administration of President Jimmy Carter was still funding infrastructure in Nicaragua through USAID. By November 1984, with President Ronald Reagan’s “Contra War” well underway, your future bloguista was amused by this left-over sign at a road rebuilt near Matagalpa.

by Jim Hodgson

Back on launch day of Trump 2.0, the president issued an executive order that suspended international aid programs for 90 days, including those of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The move came with a lot of over-the-top rhetoric and outright lies: that USAID spent “$100 million on condoms to Hamas” and that it “bankrolled” the Politico digital news company. “It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we’re getting them out,” Trump told reporters on the evening of Feb. 2.

There are, of course, dozens of issues about which to criticize the Trump regime. But this is a blog that sets out to unwrap development issues, so let’s get into it.

Congress established USAID in 1961 to bring together programs that were administering foreign aid. Focusing on long-term social and economic development, USAID disbursed about $72 billion in 2023, less than 1% of the U.S. annual budget. It is one of the largest aid agencies in the world. 

You’ll remember, of course, that the United Nations target for spending on Official Development Assistance is 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product. Only five countries meet or exceed that goal: Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany and Denmark. In 2023, Canada contributed 0.37 per cent of GDP; the United States contributed just 0.24 per cent, seventh lowest among 31 OECD countries. 

Trump’s order, carried out by his government efficiency hatchet-man, Elon Musk, chopped humanitarian programs around the world: famine relief in war zones; programs to stall malaria in 22 African nations; vaccinations in vulnerable areas; and access to medications by people living with HIV and AIDS. Several U.S. government websites also removed resources on HIV. (That also happened when Trump first took office in 2017).

Newsweek reported Feb. 6 that just months before Musk shut down USAID, the agency was investigating its relationship with Musk’s Starlink satellite company.

In days since the order, enough voices were raised in alarm to get funding for HIV and other essential medicines restored—though it wasn’t clear if that included preventative drugs like PrEP. For more than 20 years, PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) worked within and alongside the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Also, a federal judge on Feb. 7 temporarily blocked the administration from placing 2,200 USAID employees on paid leave, siding with workers who argued Trump and Musk lack the authority to immediately dismantle an agency created by congressional legislation.

The Trump regime blames “migrants” for much of what supposedly ails the United States, but in this time of unparalleled worldwide migration of people, the USAID cuts hit the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration (IOM)—two agencies that are critical in managing and measuring the flows of people.

No one should argue against humanitarian aid, although Musk and Republican members of congress who see empathy as a character flaw will do so. In a world still suffering from massive inequality, such aid is urgently needed. The U.S. Christian magazine Sojourners offered a strong defence of the humanitarian work of USAID.

What happens after the 90-day review? My guess is that some functions will be folded into the State Department and thus more susceptible to narrow political goals, like subversion of other countries’ governments. I feel badly for beneficiaries of the humanitarian programs and for many well-intentioned employees; not so much for the vast array of U.S.-based independent contractors who get rich from the misery of others.

Sheinbaum: “It’s better they close it”
As noted above, USAID was created in 1961—just two years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. There was no artifice: USAID was to counter the influence of Soviet Union. In recent years, USAID has been at the heart of U.S. challenges to the growing influence of China, which has a successful “Belt and Road” foreign aid program of its own.
My venerable Mac laptop computer tells me that I have 226 files that mention USAID. Almost all of the documents are about the ways that USAID is used as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy, especially its work alongside other U.S. institutions that promote—or subvert—democracy in other countries: the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and even the Central Intelligence Agency.

USAID even had an Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) that gained infamy in 2014 over its covert “Cuban Twitter” (ZunZuneo) social media program that was aimed at overthrowing the Cuban government was revealed by Associated Press. 

Sheinbaum (left): USAID must be transparent; in Mexico, it has funded the opposition. Right: USAID still in the headlines Feb. 8.

In her morning news conference on Feb. 4, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, breaking away from the dispute over tariffs, lashed out at the overt political activity of USAID. “This agency has funded research projects and groups opposed to the government. That’s the case with Mexico.”
She mentioned an organization that she called, “Mexicans for Corruption.” (She was only half-joking: it’s Mexicans against Corruption. The group actively opposed her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s effort to reform the judicial system, and it had support from USAID.) 
“And how is it that they get involved in politics, those agencies that are about aid. In that sense, if the United States wants to help with development, it should be transparent,” she continued.  “The truth is that there are so many things USAID does that in truth it is better they close it.”
In a similar vein, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said some U.S. help is not welcome and has to go. “Hundreds of immigration officials who guard our borders were paid by the United States. This aid is poison,” he said during a Feb. 3 cabinet meeting. “That should never be allowed. We are going to pay with our money.” In 2024, the agency paid nearly $385 million to Colombia.

Haïti chérie

Which brings me to Haiti, a country whose heartbreak I know well. For more than 45 years, it has been particularly afflicted by HIV and AIDS. The ongoing political crisis, worsened by uncontrolled activity by criminal gangs, continues to hamper relief efforts including support to people living with HIV and AIDS. 

Repeated U.S. interventions have made things worse. From 2011, with the presidencies of Michel Martellyand Jovenel Moïse and then the unelected leadership of Prime Minister Ariel Henry through early 2024, the United States and the local elites had the leaders they wanted: men close to the business sector who had close ties in the United States.

That fruitless model was finally shoved aside last June 11 with the installation of a transitional council (CPT). It’s wobbly but hope persists that it can finally organize new elections that produce leaders that Haitians want. A truth commission and an electoral council have been named.

In the meantime, the problem of gang violence is being addressed (though ineffectively) with the addition of the Multinational Security Support Mission (known as MMAS), led by police from Kenya and bolstered with police from El Salvador and Guatemala. Despite UN backing and many promises, it is underfunded and understaffed.

Feb. 4: U.S. aid to the security mission is frozen. Feb. 6: aid is renewed

A new blow came Feb. 4 when the UN announced that the shutdown of USAID meant funds for the MMAS were frozen. But two days later, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that MMAS would be protected despite the USAID cut, adding to speculation that Rubio, Musk and Trump are not all operating from the same playbook.

In the wake of the axing of USAID, the best piece that I have read about its activities in Haiti is by a long-time observer, Jake Johnston of the Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR). At the end of a Feb. 4 essay about the agency’s work in Haiti, he writes:

The term “aid” encompasses many different things: humanitarian assistance and development programming, contracts and grants, support to local organizations and multimillion dollar contracts to DC-area firms. 

There are many parts of the US foreign aid industry that can and should be stopped or significantly reformed. But that doesn’t mean that shutting down USAID, or making its assistance even more overtly political by placing it under the umbrella of the State Department, is going to be a good thing, either in the short or long term. 

The reality is that, where foreign assistance is least effective, it is largely because it is designed to promote US interests rather than address the needs of those ostensibly on the receiving end. The changes announced by the Trump administration are not likely to truly disrupt US soft power abroad. If anything, it will make political interventionism an even more explicit aim of US foreign assistance.

Take action in solidarity with Cuba

In the face of the flood of orders spewing from the White House since January 20, I feel compelled to attack all of them, everywhere, and all at once.

Today I am taking a deep breath to encourage you to take action in solidarity with Cuba. The item below focuses on what Canadians can do, but if you are in another country, please write to your government to encourage them to increase humanitarian aid to Cuba and not to be cowed by U.S. pressure.

A day before the new U.S. administration took power, I spoke about Cuba with my friends Dean Detloff and Matt Bernico for their Magnificast podcast. I feel now I was too optimistic, but have a listen. The image shows a bus given for use by churches and civil society organizations by Pastors for Peace.

Take Action for Cuba

You are invited to join other Canadians and Canadian international cooperation, trade, faith and civil society organizations to join forces in taking action in response to the economic hardships being faced by Cubans.

1.     Sign and share this new Take Action live at https://petition.web.net/CanadaActNowOnCuba.

In the midst of the difficult political situation in the U.S. and the leadership transition in Canada, advocacy is still necessary.

Cuban partner organizations and recent visitors say conditions in Cuba today are much more difficult than in the early 1990s when the implosion of the Soviet Union led to a sharp deterioration in living standards. The pandemic shuttered the tourism industry, a main source of revenue used to acquire food, medicines and fuel from abroad. Cuba has also suffered a series of hurricanes, droughts and floods, leading to lost crops and food shortages. Energy shortages limit public transit and even the collection of garbage.  

The Canadian government has responded to calls from civil society to increase humanitarian assistance but more is needed.

In 2024, Canada contributed $1.7 million in humanitarian assistance in response to several emergencies including Hurricanes Oscar and Rafael. Funds were shared via multilateral agencies including the World Food Program and UNICEF, along with NGOs including CARE Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and Humanity and Inclusion.  

In his first days in office, the new US president has revoked revoked Biden’s measures to remove Cuba from the U.S. list of sponsors of terrorism.  The difficulties of sending money and engaging in trade will continue.

Sign now!

2.      Use the information provided in the Take Action and its demands to engage candidates in your riding.  While the election period has not started yet, we know it’s coming. 

3.     Many Canadians are part of efforts to fill a container, carry a suitcase of medical supplies, are organizing a people-to-people delegations, or making a donation through a church, union, or humanitarian agency.  Please tell your MP and other politician to raise the profile of the economic crisis in Cuba.  Send them pictures, and post them on social media. 

Thank you!

PS: Over the past two years, I have worked with my former colleagues at The United Church of Canada, other churches, several trade unions and international development organizations to draw attention to the impact of U.S. sanctions (“the blockade”) on the Cuban people. We hoped for more positive change from the Biden administration and of course feel disappointment that the new U.S. government has reverted to harsh measures. In these times, Canada must maintain its independent foreign policy and not cave to U.S. pressure.]

With a dizzying array of executive orders, Trump attacks the vulnerable

The White House, February 1982, just after the inauguration of Ronald Reagan. (Jim Hodgson photo)

by Jim Hodgson

“American inauguration day was a grim business, like someone slamming a baseball bat into the concept of human decency all day long until it was bleeding and paper-thin,” wrote Heather Mallick today in the Toronto Star.
In a blizzard of speeches, insults and executive orders, Donald Trump erased anything positive about the legacy of the interregnum president, Joe Biden. “Que sigue la continuidad” (follow the continuity) is the inept slogan of a local politician in the village in Chiapas where family responsibilities have placed me for a few months, but it could well have been the title of Trump’s work plan for the day.
I started keeping a list. Eventually, my journalist brain took over. I had to make choices and prioritize. 
The one specific action that I expected with dread came in the evening: revocation of Biden’s announcement six days earlier that some of the cruel U.S. sanctions levelled against Cuba would be eased. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel responded on social media late on Monday, calling Trump’s decision to revoke Biden’s measures an “act of mockery and abuse.”
Here’s my list, drawn partly from Associated Press and the Toronto Star, with additional sources as noted below. At the end, a treat: an eloquent plea for mercy spoken in Trump’s presence by Washington’s Episcopal bishop, the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde.


Trump suspends U.S. foreign aid for 90 days pending reviews
Because this blog is broadly about issues related to development, let me start here: Trump temporarily suspended all U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals. (From other statements, it’s pretty clear he is going after support for women’s sexual and reproductive health.) It was not immediately clear how much assistance can be affected by the order. Funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and must be spent. And there are contracts that must be honoured.

Mexico is not alone in feeling nervous over Trump’s designation of cartels and gangs as “terrorist organizations.” Right: La Jornada reports that the deportations have already begun in Ciudad Juárez and Matamoros.


Trump declares a border emergency
As he had promised, Trump declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, suspending refugee resettlement and ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. La Jornada reported that he suspended the U.S. government’s CBP One app that asylum-seekers waiting in Mexico use to make appointments for their claim to be heard by officials on the U.S. side of the border.
Trump acknowledged an imminent legal challenge to overturning birthright citizenship, which has been enshrined in the U.S. Constitution since 1868. He said automatic citizenship was “just ridiculous” and that he believes he was on “good (legal) ground” to change it.
Rainbow Railroad newsletter, Jan. 21: Trump signed an executive order that suspended the U.S. Refugee Admission Program, halting the processing of LGBTQI+ refugees already approved for resettlement, and leaving vulnerable and displaced queer and trans individuals stranded in dangerous and precarious conditions.


Use of wartime power act to deport gang members
Trump raised the possibility of using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (last used during World War II to detain Japanese people) to deport gang members who are deemed members of a foreign terrorist organization. His executive order paves the way for criminal organizations such as MS-13 to be named “foreign terrorist organizations.” His government will also return “millions of foreign criminals” to their places of origin. 

Late Tuesday, Trump ordered that all U.S. government staff working on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes be put on immediate paid administrative leave, and called for an end to the “dangerous, demeaning and immoral” programs.


Ending protection from discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation
Trump rescinded a 2021 order (Title IX) that the Education Department used to protect against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
A couple of paragraphs from the Rolling Stone’s excellent coverage:
Earlier in the day, Trump declared in his inaugural address: “As of today It will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.” 
Trump intends to sign an executive order that prohibits federal recognition of transgender Americans. The anticipated order, leaked to the right-leaning Free Press, will reportedly bar government issued identification like passports from listing anything other than a person’s birth gender, remove transgender individuals from protection of laws barring sex-discrimination, end funding for transition surgeries for federal prisoners, and purport to protect the First Amendment and other rights of those who flout “preferred pronouns” or refuse to recognize the reality of transgender individuals. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and their respective ministers are preparing responses to whatever comes from Trump after Feb. 1 with regard to tariffs. Both leaders are trying to ease tension about their borders with the United States. Trump may go after China with tariffs that day too.


In addition to a federal hiring freeze, other measures include:

  • Pardons and commutations that Trump said would cover about 1,500 people criminally charged in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
  • Halting 78 Biden-era executive actions
  • A regulatory freeze preventing bureaucrats from issuing regulations until the Trump administration has full control of the government
  • A freeze on all federal hiring except for military and a few other essential areas
  • A requirement that federal workers return to full-time in-person work
  • A directive to every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis
  • Withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty as Los Angeles burns [Canada’s environment minister Steven Guilbeault called the move “deplorable”]
  • Withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO)
  • A government order restoring freedom of speech and preventing censorship of free speech
  • Ending the “weaponization of government against the political adversaries of the previous administration”

Episcopal bishop asks Trump ‘to have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ communities and immigrants
video
Washington’s Episcopal bishop, the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde:
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God, for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”

A day later, Trump called the bishop a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” “ungracious,” “nasty” and “not compelling or smart.”