Empire "Over Easy"- The National Endowment for Democracy

Origins and Impact

In 1983 President Reagan announced the creation of the National Endowment for Democracy to support political groups in target countries that would contest left-of-center organizations and political parties. NED would do this, according to Reagan, by supporting “the infrastructure of democracy—the system of a free press, unions, political parties, and universities—which allows a people to choose their own way, to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means.”3

Allen Weinstein, who was a member of the USAID-working group known as the Democracy Group that proposed the formation of a quasi-governmental group to channel U.S. political aid, served as NED’s acting president during its first year. Talking about the role of NED, Weinstein told the Washington Post in 1991 that “a lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”

Under NED’s elaborate structure designed to veil U.S. government funding, USIA and USAID funding did not flow directly to foreign political parties, unions, business associations, and civic groups but was routed through the AFL-CIO, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the newly organized international institutes of the Democratic and Republican parties. NED’s origins go back to a bipartisan commission called the American Political Foundation established by the State Department that began to address the problem of having U.S.-funded “soft-side” operations overseas perceived as CIA fronts.

The working model for a new type of foreign operations program was the AFL-CIO’s Free Trade Union Institute, which was funded by USAID and a tripartite directorship of labor, business, and government officials. In turn, the American Political Foundation called for a feasibility project called the Democracy Program, which formulated the objectives and structures for NED. Although the Democracy Program included business and USIA officials, its key movers were the neoconservatives: Eugenia Kemble (sister of PNAC-associated Penn Kemble), George Weigel (later with the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a signatory of PNAC’s founding statement), Raymond Gastil of Freedom House, and Allen Weinstein (member of neocon-led Coalition for a Democratic Majority and later president of the NED-funded Center for Democracy).

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Background:

The Free Trade Union Institute (FTUI) was created in 1977 when the AFL-CIO resurrected and renamed the moribund Free Trade Union Committee (FTUC). The purpose was to increase U.S. influence with European trade unions, especially in Spain and Portugal. (16) It was almost defunct in 1983 when Congress began funding the newly-created National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and FTUI has been the largest grantee ever since. (3) NED's purpose is "to encourage the establishment and growth of democratic development in a manner consistent both with the broad concerns of United States national interests and with the specific requirements of the democratic groups in other countries which are aided by the endowment."(14) FTUI is one of four core grantees of NED. The other three are the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), National Republican Institute for International Affairs, and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. In 1988 NED received over $20 million from the U.S. taxpayers. (15) Congress authorizes U.S. Information Agency (USIA) funds for NED which in turn gives money to FTUI and other grantees. FTUI then funds overseas projects which are usually managed by AFL-CIO's three regional labor institutes: American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), Asian-American Free Labor Institute (AAFLI), and the African-American Labor Center (AALC). (2)

FTUI says it "supports programs that provide assistance for democratic education, training in basic union skills, and organizing assistance... sponsors exchanges between trade unionists... and supports research on labor rights and human rights..."(4)

Both NED and FTUI have received widespread support from both U.S. political parties, the business community, and even the right wing, as can be seen by supporter Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah)--a labor opponent in the domestic sphere. A Hatch aide explained why his boss decided to back the AFL-CIO's intl operations, saying the AFL-CIO worldwide "has tremendous leverage for political activity compared to say, CIA covert operations, which often fail."(5) In congressional hearings, Senator Hatch stated "I have seen the excellent work of the labor institute over the last several years, and frankly, they have carried a large share of the burden in sowing the seeds of democracy abroad."(6)

In an undated memorandum from the early days of NED's operations, FTUI executive director, Eugenia Kemble, instructed NED executive director, Carl Gershman to "avoid advertising" projects in certain countries where recipients would "either be endangered or embarrassed if specific budgets were published or announced."(7)

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it always stuck in my craw that Reagan got all the credit for bringing down the Berlin Wall. AFL-CIO working in concert with Solidarnosk and other labor organizations in Eastern Europe had much to do with it as well. Lane Kirkland spent a ton of money and resources helping to make it happen.

Background:

The Free Trade Union Institute (FTUI) was created in 1977 when the AFL-CIO resurrected and renamed the moribund Free Trade Union Committee (FTUC). The purpose was to increase U.S. influence with European trade unions, especially in Spain and Portugal. (16) It was almost defunct in 1983 when Congress began funding the newly-created National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and FTUI has been the largest grantee ever since. (3) NED's purpose is "to encourage the establishment and growth of democratic development in a manner consistent both with the broad concerns of United States national interests and with the specific requirements of the democratic groups in other countries which are aided by the endowment."(14) FTUI is one of four core grantees of NED. The other three are the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), National Republican Institute for International Affairs, and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. In 1988 NED received over $20 million from the U.S. taxpayers. (15) Congress authorizes U.S. Information Agency (USIA) funds for NED which in turn gives money to FTUI and other grantees. FTUI then funds overseas projects which are usually managed by AFL-CIO's three regional labor institutes: American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), Asian-American Free Labor Institute (AAFLI), and the African-American Labor Center (AALC). (2)

FTUI says it "supports programs that provide assistance for democratic education, training in basic union skills, and organizing assistance... sponsors exchanges between trade unionists... and supports research on labor rights and human rights..."(4)

Both NED and FTUI have received widespread support from both U.S. political parties, the business community, and even the right wing, as can be seen by supporter Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah)--a labor opponent in the domestic sphere. A Hatch aide explained why his boss decided to back the AFL-CIO's intl operations, saying the AFL-CIO worldwide "has tremendous leverage for political activity compared to say, CIA covert operations, which often fail."(5) In congressional hearings, Senator Hatch stated "I have seen the excellent work of the labor institute over the last several years, and frankly, they have carried a large share of the burden in sowing the seeds of democracy abroad."(6)

In an undated memorandum from the early days of NED's operations, FTUI executive director, Eugenia Kemble, instructed NED executive director, Carl Gershman to "avoid advertising" projects in certain countries where recipients would "either be endangered or embarrassed if specific budgets were published or announced."(7)
NED was embarrassed in November 1985 when one of these FTUI projects was disclosed. FTUI had awarded $1. 4 million to two right-wing groups in France. It is still not clear why NED thought democracy was in trouble in France. More than half a million dollars had gone to a student group that had fewer than 1,000 members and was an offshoot of an organization known for its violent and criminal predilections. (9)

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