USA Ends Aid to HR Defenders and Opponents of Dictatorships
from Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela
The State Department concluded that 92 programs, which were managed by the International Republican Institute, were not “in the national interest”
HAVANA TIMES – The United States State Department canceled 92 foreign aid programs aimed at supporting opposition activists, political prisoners, and religious groups in Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela, after concluding that they were not “in the national interest.”
The canceled programs were managed by the International Republican Institute (IRI), a nonprofit organization linked to the ruling party, and were focused on promoting democracy in authoritarian countries, according to a publication from El Nuevo Herald.
The publication states that “all but three of the 95 programs” that the Institute had in these countries were abruptly canceled. The remaining three programs, related to groups in Venezuela, are on hold, following President Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze all foreign aid funds for 90 days.
“The rest of the 175 programs of the Institute worldwide are also in limbo because they rely on funds directly allocated by Congress to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The NED has said it has been unable to access the money,” the article reads.
In the cancellation notices sent by the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), it was stated that the contracts “were not aligned” with the agencies’ priorities and were not “in the national interest.”
“The IRI’s Democratic counterpart, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), is facing a similar challenge. Sources said that about a hundred programs were terminated, and only one program remained in the region, focused on Venezuela,” says the publication.
Most employees of both institutes, the National Endowment for Democracy, and other organizations working with foreign aid programs have been given administrative leave.
A Supreme Court ruling ordered the US government to release part of the funds owed for the work already carried out by some of these organizations and contractors managing foreign aid programs. However, with so many contracts already canceled and staff on leave or dismissed, it is unclear how the government will proceed.
In a Senate hearing on Wednesday, February 26, 2024, regarding the progress of US interests in the Western Hemisphere, Florida Senator Rick Scott echoed current opinions on foreign aid among Trump administration officials in an exchange about how to justify the money spent to taxpayers.
“My problem is that I can’t go to Florida and say, ‘Boy, I’m excited about how much money we spent on foreign aid because something might happen. Let’s see: the Castro regime still controls Cuba, Venezuela just stole another election, Ortega is strengthening himself in Nicaragua,'” said the senator.
The suspension of foreign aid programs for the promotion of democracy in authoritarian countries, a bipartisan US policy maintained for decades, has left many wondering if the Trump Administration has abandoned that objective.
El Nuevo Herald also indicates that the issue was addressed in a call with IRI leaders to warn staff working for the Florida Congressional delegation, home to the largest Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan communities in the US, “that the organization would not survive much longer without funding, probably only a few weeks.”
They add that in the call, the president of the International Republican Institute, Daniel Twining, reportedly said that “cuts to democracy promotion would only benefit dictators in places like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.”
First published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
The unspoken reality is the money “America” gives, donates or loans come from the taxes paid by the citizens of America. No matter how glorious the cause is and no matter whether it is for agencies here in the United States or those inn other countries does not matter. We are out of disposable income which leaves us being forced to say nope we can’t afford it. So much money has been spent by previous administrations that the service of those debts precludes continuing to hand out money for anything. Just as every parent that has had to tell a child I’m sorry but we can’t afford that our nation now finds itself in the same position.
As per the penultimate paragraph, if Florida is the, “largest Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan communities in the US, “that the organization would not survive much longer without funding, probably only a few weeks.” why don’t the citizens of those respective countries, that fled their own repressive regimes, fund their own HR organizations?
Why should it be up to the U.S. federal government to fund NGOs in foreign countries?
If the NGOs can’t continue to operate without U.S. funding (government funding – see the irony here?) then they are not sustainable organizations to begin with.