The US government covertly created a Twitter-like text messaging service aimed at fueling political unrest in Cuba and evading the communist nation's strict internet filters, according to an investigative report published today by the Associated Press. The ZunZuneo program - named after the slang term for the song of a Cuban hummingbird - was financed and operated by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is charged with delivering humanitarian aid money to poor nations.
The idea was to build up a large social network through targeted text message blasts, allowing Cubans to communicate with one another free of charge and beyond the reach of the country's tightly regulated internet, while enabling US officials to feed them information from the outside world. Using a list of phone numbers obtained from a worker at Cubacel, Cuba's state-owned telecommunications company, USAID and its team of contractors began by blasting out texts about 'non-controversial content' like soccer and music. Once ZunZuneo's network reached a critical mass, they would begin sending out more politically-charged texts, in the hopes that they would spark demonstrations against the regime of Raul Castro and 'renegotiate the balance of power between state and society,' as one USAID document reads.
'There will be absolutely no mention of United States government involvement.'
ZunZuneo abruptly disappeared in mid-2012, when USAID says the project ran out of funding, but at its peak it had more than 40,000 subscribers - mostly young Cubans whom officials considered the most likely to pursue political change. The agency used a network of shell companies under a Cayman Islands bank account to cover its tracks and evade Cuban intelligence, and used fake banner ads to make it seem like a legitimate business. In one instance, the team hired a Cuba-born satirical artist to send out humorous texts and poll questions to users gathered at a major concert, but the 100,000 who responded were not aware that their answers were being used as part of an intelligence-gathering operation.
'There will be absolutely no mention of United States government involvement,' reads a 2010 memo from Mobile Accord, one of ZunZuneo's contractors, which was obtained by the AP. 'This is absolutely crucial for the long-term success of the service and to ensure the success of the mission.'
US law requires presidential authorization for any covert federal operation, though USAID declined to say whether the Obama administration was aware of ZunZuneo. The program began picking up steam in late 2009, just as USAID subcontractor Alan Gross was arrested and imprisoned for 15 years in Cuba on charges of committing 'acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state.' At the time, Gross had been working on a secret project to expand internet access in Cuba and 'support existing civil society actors in communicating with one another.'
US-Cuba relations have improved since Raul Castro took over for his ailing brother Fidel in 2008. The island nation has implemented market-based reforms in recent years, and the Obama administration lifted some travel bans and spending regulations in 2011. But the longstanding US economic embargo remains very much in place, and Cuba continues to impose some of the world's strictest regulations on domestic internet use.
In early 2010, USAID and its team began marketing ZunZuneo, and the service quickly gained 25,000 users. USAID saw evidence that Cuban authorities had traced some text messages and blocked others, though they remained confident that the program would continue as long as it remained covert. The agency also sought to distance itself from the project, and reportedly asked Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey for funding. Dorsey met with a State Department official, records show, though he declined to comment to the AP.
Eventually, the program proved unsustainable, as USAID and its contractors continued to pay steep texting fees while running the risk of being exposed. And despite the operation's questionable legality, USAID says its Cuba programs are within both the law and its humanitarian mission.
Aaron Souppouris contributed to this report.
'USAID is a development agency, not an intelligence agency, and we work all over the world to help people exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms, and give them access to tools to improve their lives and connect with the outside world,' USAID spokesman Matt Herrick told the AP. 'In the implementation, has the government taken steps to be discreet in non-permissive environments? Of course. That's how you protect the practitioners and the public. In hostile environments, we often take steps to protect the partners we're working with on the ground. This is not unique to Cuba.'
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