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Latin America
Related: About this forumWho was Alan Gross working for?
http://www.cubasi.com/nows-exclusive-recommended/item/2417-our-man-in-havana-who-was-alan-gross-working-forAlan P. Gross, an American arrested in Cuba in 2009 for smuggling broadband satellite communications equipment, made world headlines on December 2014 when he was released the same day that US president Obama ordered the release of three Cubans who were in American prisons serving sentences for espionage. Press reports mentioned that Gross was in the Caribbean island in his capacity as a subcontractor for USAID, a US government agency that administers aid programs abroad. Throughout its history this agency has been accused of being an arm of US foreign policy and at worst a mere front for intelligence operations rather than the neutral and apolitical provider of aid to poor countries that it pretends to be. In 2014 USAID was caught red-handed in bizarre schemes to destabilize Cuba through Twitter and by funding hip hop artists.
A lesser known fact is that Gross was in Cuba working for a USAID contractor called Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), a company that supervises and executes economic development projects all over the world. In 2010 it was USAIDs fifth biggest contractor, raking in almost $382.5 million in contracts just in that year.
DAI has also worked for the US State Department, the Pentagon, the World Bank, the United Nations, the European Commission, and private sector giants like Monsanto, Wal-Mart, Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, Exxon Mobil, Daimler Chrysler, Unilever and The Gap.
We tackle fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability, says DAI about its work. Since 1970, we have worked in more than 150 countriesdelivering results across the spectrum of international development contexts, from stable societies and high-growth economies to challenging environments racked by political or military conflict.
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Who was Alan Gross working for? (Original Post)
flamingdem
Dec 2014
OP
Judi Lynn
(160,219 posts)1. They stay busy, don't they?
DAI acted as a conduit for USAID (through the Office of Transition Initiatives) and National Endowment for Democracy (NED} funds to the Venezuelan opposition to president Hugo Chavez. Furthermore, it was instrumental along with NED affiliated organizations for financing black propaganda on Venezuelan private network TV during the general strike in 2002. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that DAI was required to keep certain personnel in Venezuela and had to consult with USAID about staff changes. Philip Agee, a former CIA officer, suggests that this is merely a cover for what passed for CIA operations in the past.
Interesting history in Afghanistan, too.
You'd think most people would be ashamed to be connected to a low-life bunch like these people. If Gross "didn't know" what this group does, it wouldn't have taken him too long to find out, would it? He does have, after all, access to "the series of tubes" the Republican Congressman Ted Stevens told us about.