[R-G] US Freezes Cuban 'Democracy' Programs

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/v-print/story/612979.html
Posted on Tue, Jul. 22, 2008
Funding for free Cuba is frozen
BY FRANCES ROBLES
Congress has put the U.S. Agency for International Development's $45  
million Cuba program's 2008 funding on hold, following a series of  
troubling audits and cases of massive fraud, The Miami Herald has  
learned.

In a quest to get the funding hold lifted, U.S. AID on Friday ordered  
a bottoms-up review of all its Cuba democracy programs and suspended a  
Miami anti-Castro exile group that spent at least $11,000 of federal  
grant money on personal items.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., ordered a hold on the U.S. AID Cuba  
program funding last month, in part in response to a $500,000  
embezzlement at the Center for a Free Cuba in Washington disclosed  
earlier this year, federal officials said.

In a memo sent Friday to various members of Congress, Stephen  
Driesler, AID's deputy assistant administrator for legislative and  
public affairs, said the agency recently implemented stricter  
financial reviews. That new review turned up irregularities at the  
Grupo de Apoyo a la Democracia (Group in Support of Democracy), a  
Miami group criticized in the past for using federal funds to send  
Nintendo games to Cuba.

The executive director of Grupo de Apoyo admitted that an employee  
used the organization's credit card for thousands of dollars in  
personal items and then billed them to the grant aimed at bringing  
democracy to Cuba, Driesler's memo said.

The group's funding has been suspended pending further review, and the  
money has been reimbursed, Driesler said. In a telephone interview, he  
declined to say what items were purchased.

'' U.S. AID has decided to conduct an immediate review of all the  
grants to determine where financial vulnerabilities exist and how best  
to address these vulnerabilities to strengthen the program for future  
success,'' his memo said. ``All grants are currently undergoing  
review, and pending the outcome of these reviews, some grants will be  
partially suspended.''

Grupo de Apoyo Executive Director Frank Hernández Trujillo did not  
return several messages seeking comment.

The announcement that U.S. AID would conduct a thorough review of its  
controversial $45 million program is considered a significant  
development that illustrates increased congressional oversight over  
the program.

A report by the Cuban-American National Foundation released in May  
showed that less than 17 percent of $65 million in federal Cuba aid  
funds spent during the past 10 years went to ''direct, on-island  
assistance.'' The bulk of the money, the report said, went to academic  
studies and expenses of exile organizations, mostly in Miami and  
Washington.

The report echoed findings by The Miami Herald in 2006 and a  
congressional Government Accountability Office audit that found lax  
oversight of the programs and came as the Bush administration prepares  
to dole out a record $45.7 million in Cuba democracy grants.

IMPORTANT SHIFT

In an important shift, the Bush administration this year ordered a  
major change in the grants, favoring international advocacy groups  
over Miami exile organizations.

''Yes, we were worried,'' Driesler said in an interview. ``When we  
have problems with two institutions within six months out of 11 active  
grantees, you say, `We hope this is not a pattern, but we better pause  
and check and make sure.'

``We are focusing on procurements, validating that purchases being  
billed are being delivered, that the purchase price on the invoice is  
accurate and that the purchase was legitimate for a government  
program.''

Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba,  
stressed that the $500,000 fraud at his organization was not  
discovered by a federal audit but by Calzon himself. He said Berman,  
who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, pushed for the audits  
because he is against President Bush's Cuba policy.

POLITICS CHARGED

''I think any additional oversight is fine; I don't have any problem  
with that,'' Calzon said. ``I would say that it is simply motivated by  
politics. If Mr. Berman were in agreement with the president's Cuba  
policy, he would not be on this fishing expedition.''

Berman's office did not return a call seeking comment.

Critics say AID's move did not go far enough.

''Those of us who have been following this issue are alarmed about the  
program,'' said Sarah Stephens, whose organization, Democracy in the  
Americas, lobbies for a change in Cuba policy.

``We are pleased that Congress has started asking questions and, given  
what we have learned about possible corruption and waste, we believe  
Congress needs to stop this funding and continue asking the hard  
questions.''