Cuban Youth Targeted by New US State Dept. Program
HAVANA TIMES – Just three days after Barack Obama left Cuba on March 22nd, the State Department announced a $753,989 community internship program targeting “young emerging leaders from Cuban civil society.”
Non-profit organizations and educational institutions are invited to submit proposals. The deadline is May 20. The first awards are expected to be given in late July or early August.
The State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs plans to manage the program, aimed at financing two-to four-month professional development programs “which will fuel the participants’ development of action plans for nongovernmental community activities in Cuba.”
The announcement states:
“Cuban civil society is not formed into well-established organizations that would typically be found in a society with a strong democratic tradition. Through participation in the program, participants will develop a set of leadership tools and skills to manage and grow civil society organizations that will actively support democratic principles in Cuba.”
Read the full application details here.
As a young man, President Obama worked as a community organizer in the poor neighborhoods of Chicago. It seems like he is trying to develop those skills in Cuba. What’s wrong with that?
Precisely:) it is the age-old game of imperialist nations, thinking they know what’s best for everyone.
I think this is what Fidel was referring to. “We don’t need any gifts from the Empire” I would tell the US State Dept. that their help in organizing Cuban youth to seek their own destiny is not welcome and to please bugger off.
The U.S. policy makers have only one way of thinking and that is to create everyone around themselves in their own image. They have a very small perspective which, I believe, comes out of their fear of losing something meaningful to them, although they may not know what it is, so they use big terms like freedom, democracy, etc. it is a sad fact but just maybe we will have our own Revolution now as well. Feel the Bern:)
Please, the US State Department has only three policies: diplomacy through the use of bribery, deception, or force. Trust them not.
https://waitforthedownfall.wordpress.com/the-purpose-of-the-u-s-state-department/
Actions, as always, speak louder than words. Particularly when it comes to politqueros en la Yuma.Let’s see if the US media bother to report this.
This program is not inconsistent with the remarks that Obama made in Cuba. Helping Cuban youth learn to organize using democratic principles is a small part of what the US should continue to do to give the Cuban people the space to seek their own destiny.
“I know I promised to stop drinking, honey, and I will … honest. But just one more little one can’t hurt.”