Appendix A: Descriptions of Cuba Program Grantee Activities

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1. American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) The American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) is supported by the AFL-CIO and was formed when four NGOs affiliated with the AFL-CIO merged in 1997. The American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) was the NGO that had worked extensively in Latin America. Funded at $168,575 on January 28, 1998, and extended once until June 2000, the ACILS grant operates in three intermediate results areas: solidarity with human rights activists, defending Cuban workers' rights, and direct outreach. It has three main goals: leveraging labor rights for Cuban workers, assisting independent unions, and promoting better business practices for corporations investing in Cuba. ACILS has pursued these goals by: studying Cuban labor organizations; sending representatives to international union meetings where the official Cuban trade union, the Cuban Workers Confederation (CTC), was participating; meeting directly with Cuban independent union representatives; encouraging international and regional trade unions to advocate fair labor practices in Cuba; pressuring other governments to advocate fair labor practices in Cuba; and promoting better business practices, especially for labor, for firms investing in Cuba. ACILS is also promoting better business practices for firms investing in Cuba by collaborating with another Cuba Program grantee, the National Policy Association. Specific accomplishments include: ACILS contracted Dr. Guillermo Grenier, Director of the Florida Center for Labor Research and Studies and Florida International University Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, to prepare two reports. The first-an analytical report of multinational investments in Cuba-examines the worker rights records of several industries in Cuba and documents human and worker rights violations. The report also analyzes the Cuban labor code, constitution, foreign investment law, and health and safety codes. The second report provides an analysis of the organization, capacity, and credibility of the existing independent labor organizations and individual labor activists in Cuba. In December 1998, a delegation of the Inter-American Regional Organization of Workers (ORIT) of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (the AFL-CIO also participated in this delegation) attended an International Labor Organization-sponsored conference in Cuba to assess political, social, and economic conditions, and to establish contact with counterparts in the official and independent labor movements. On March 5, 1999, following the closed trial of the "Group of Four1," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney wrote a letter to Fidel Castro urging immediate release of the Group of Four as well as hundreds of others imprisoned for exercising freedoms guaranteed by the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. Several factors have complicated the work of ACILS and have led to one grant extension: lack of information on Cuba's unions and difficulties in communicating and partnering with the independent sector caused delays in carrying out in-depth research necessary for full implementation of the grant. International trade unions in the Americas and elsewhere have expressed disagreement with the AFL-CIO's position on the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba and other matters. These disagreements have hampered cooperation with ACILS on proposed activities. The Cuban Workers Federation has confronted ACILS delegates at an international conference over the specifics of its USAID grant. Apparently, the source of funding for ACILS work related to Cuba has caused some union representatives in the Americas and elsewhere to be more reticent about actively participating in ACILS Cuba initiatives. On the island itself, cooperation by Cuban nationals with the Helms-Burton Act-funded programs is illegal under Cuban law, and has thus increased the difficulty of working directly with Cubans. 2. Center for a Free Cuba (CFC) The Center for a Free Cuba (CFC) was established in late 1997 to promote democratic transition in Cuba. Building on the Eastern European transition model and the experience of its leadership working on Cuban human rights matters, CFC focuses on the promotion of human rights in Cuba. Its executive director worked previously on Cuba programs at Freedom House, the recipient of USAID Cuba Program's first grant. CFC was funded at $400,000 in April 1998. An amendment was later provided to add $500,000 and to extend the project until August 2000. The Center for a Free Cuba is now the Cuba Program's second largest grantee. The CFC project works in three intermediate results areas: building solidarity with Cuba's human rights activists, promoting independent NGOs, and reaching out directly to the Cuban people. Its activities also touch on the Program's remaining three intermediate results: transition planning, workers' rights, and independent journalism. It has three goals: producing and distributing human rights materials in Cuba, supporting nascent civil society, and encouraging international support for human rights and democracy in Cuba. CFC has pursued these goals by providing Spanish-language books, pamphlets and other materials to the Cuban people on issues such as human rights, transition to democracy and free market economic; sending office equipment to Cuba; promoting on-island visits to representatives of civil society, dissidents, and independent journalists; calling attention to Cuban human rights abuses; hosting in the US and visiting abroad luminaries of Europe's post-communist societies; making numerous media appearances and contacts; organizing policy seminars for Congressional staffers and Members of Congress. Specific accomplishments include: The Center provided 40 fax machines to independent Cuban NGOs in 1998. CFC sent seven missions to Cuba, including a group of central European representatives from private relief and human rights organizations. This group met with human rights activists, dissidents, independent journalists, community leaders, independent librarians and families of political prisoners. CFC sent to Cuba a total of 29,460 books/publications and 71 video cassettes on democracy and human rights. The total includes 22,942 copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Center distributed medical supplies and communications equipment to pro-democracy and human rights activists in Cuba. CFC published and distributed 1,000 copies of its report, "The Papal Journey on Balance: the Response to Date" to NGOs, government officials and the media throughout Latin America and Europe. The report catalogues ongoing abuses of human rights illustrated by the incarceration of such Cuban political prisoners as Marta Beatríz Roque, Félix Antonio Bonne Carcassés, Rene Gómez Manzano and Vladimiro Roca. Several factors have complicated CFC's work. Cuba's repressive political environment makes it difficult for Cubans to contact the program or be contacted by it and limits the distribution channels for materials. The US Interests Section in Havana has limited personnel to engage in either distribution or end-use monitoring of materials. 3. Cuba Dissidence Task Group (CDTG) The CDTG was created to support the activities of dissident groups in Cuba, especially the "Group of Four": economist Marta Beatriz Roque; Felix Antonio Bonne Carcasses, an engineer; Rene Gomez Manzano, a lawyer; and Vladimiro Roca, a former MIG fighter pilot and son of founding Cuban Communist Party member, Blas Roca. The four were arrested in July 1997 for publishing a pamphlet, The Homeland Belongs to All of Us, which calls for a peaceful national dialogue on political and economic reform. After 19 months of imprisonment without charge, the four were put on trial in March 1999 for sedition and sentenced to prison terms from three-and-a-half to five years. The Cuban Government closed the trial to the Cuban public, the free press, and the international diplomatic community. In May and June 2000, three of the Group of Four were granted a conditional release from prison. Vladimiro Roca remains in jail. The CDTG also more generally supports the cause of human rights in Cuba. The CDTG actively participates in the United Nations Human Rights Commission's annual review of human rights around the world. Funded at $250,000, and completed in September 1999, the project's activities focused primarily on helping groups promote human rights and support dissidents on the island, and secondarily on developing independent NGOs. Specific accomplishments include: The Task Group helped win international support for the work of the "Group of Four" by publishing and disseminating worldwide their work, as well as the work of the centers they founded: The Civil Society and Democracy Center, which seeks to empower the emerging Cuban civil society through analysis of national and international political developments; The Business and Economics Center, which analyzes the Cuban economy and trains Cuban professional economists in free market economics; The Felix Varela Law Center, which supports Cuban lawyers in their research of Cuban legal institutions and laws that must be eliminated or modified to permit a peaceful transition from totalitarianism to democracy; The Labor Center, which analyzes and promotes collective bargaining, labor processes and the formation of independent labor unions on the island. The Task Group sent 10 packages of humanitarian assistance (food and medicine) to political prisoners and their families and to other victims of egregious political repression (e.g., those who have lost their employment or have been physically attacked because of their peaceful human rights activities.) The Task Group received, analyzed, transcribed, translated, published and disseminated 18 bulletins, 44 working papers and 8 reports. The CDTG issued 32 press releases based on these materials. Topics included a report on the prisons in Las Villas province prepared by Odilia Collazo, president of the Pro Human Rights Party; and an analysis of Cuban laws written by Rene Gomez Manzano; as well as assessments of the Cuban economy and current political situation. The Task Group sent more than 8,000 books and pamphlets to the island. This material included La Patria es de Todos; Vaclav Havel's "El Reto de la Esperanza;" OAS Manual de Denuncias de Derechos Humanos; IFES' Manual sobre las elecciones democraticas; and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Several factors have complicated the Task Group's work. According to its founder, Ruth Montaner, its small size and lack of experience with USAID procedures have created an administrative burden, distracting the Task Group from its core activities. In addition, the grantee has received bomb threats and suffered petty harassment throughout the course of its activities from what are believed to be Cuban government representatives working in the United States. 4. Cuba Free Press (CFP) The CFP was founded in 1997 to provide a platform for the publication and distribution of articles by Cuban independent journalists and writers through the Internet and email. In response to the evaluation team's request for a meeting with CFP in Miami, the CFP responded with a letter stating that, "as we will have no relationship with USAID, other than the pending closure of the relationship, much to our regret, we will not be able to meet with your three member team." Funded with a $280,000 grant in May 1998 and ended in February 2000, the CFP worked in the intermediate results area of giving voice to independent journalists and writers inside Cuba. It also indirectly supported human rights activists and the development of independent NGOs. The grantee's written response to the team indicated that the web site had received more than 225,000 hits and that 172,000 documents were downloaded by nearly 13,000 different URLs. The CFP also published 36 newsletters in Spanish and 19 in English. In its letter to the evaluation team, the grantee reported extensive difficulties in its relationship with USAID during the implementation of grant activities. 5. CubaNet Founded in 1994, CubaNet obtains daily independent reporting from inside Cuba, translates much of it into English, French, and German, and posts it on the www.cubanet.org web site. CubaNet also serves as a portal for news articles relating to Cuba published in the United States and third countries. Funded initially at $98,000 and extended through April 2001 with total funding of $343,000, CubaNet works in the intermediate results area of giving voice to independent journalists and writers inside Cuba. The primary distribution vehicle for information is the CubaNet's web site and e-mail bulletin. Specific accomplishments include: CubaNet developed and maintained a Web site averaging 750,000 hits per month with links from International news organizations such as CNN, the BBC, and NBC. CubaNet provided on-going distribution of a daily e-mail bulletin to 1,700 subscribers. CubaNet highlighted awareness of the nascent independent press and non-governmental sector within Cuba and encouraged communication between CubaNet readers and independent sector representatives. Several factors have complicated CubaNet's work. CubaNet activities suffer from the difficult operating environment in Cuba. The grantee reported that this difficulty stems from political repression and the difficulty in assessing how information flows within Cuba. CubaNet's small size and relative lack of experience with USAID procedures have created an administrative burden, distracting the CubaNet from its core activities. CubaNet also faces the challenge of translating a large amount of time-sensitive material quickly. The Florida International University -- International Media Center (FIU-IMC), a USAID Cuba Program grantee, works with CubaNet to translate many of CubaNet's materials into English, but has reportedly had some difficulty handling the volume of translation and the need for rapid turnaround. 6. Cuba On-Line Originally funded at $300,000 through August 2000 and extended with an additional $500,000 until August 2001, Cuba On-Line provides direct outreach to the Cuban people by providing accurate, uncensored news about Cuba and the world. Cuba On-Line produces the newsletter Sin Censura that is distributed inside Cuba to human rights activists, independent journalists, dissidents, religious leaders, business and professional people, government officials, cultural leaders, and members of the general population. The print edition is distributed to 4,200 readers. The newsletter is also distributed to more than 450 e-mail accounts in Cuba. Cuba On-Line collaborates with other grantees by providing them copies of the newsletter to distribute inside Cuba. The newsletter publishes material from western wire services and other reputable news sources. The content of the newsletter is focused on issues of transition to democracy, free markets, and human rights. Thus far, Cuba On-Line's major challenge has been ensuring that the newsletter reaches intended recipients without interference. 7. Florida International University - International Media Center (FIU-IMC) The FIU-IMC helps improve the professional skills of Cuba's independent journalists. Staffed by academics with experience as journalists in Latin America, the International Media Center had previously operated a multi-year journalism program in Latin America. This grant was funded at $292,000 on February 1, 1999. While still in the initial phase of implementation, unexpected start-up delays led to a one-year, no-cost extension through January 2001. This program operates in the intermediate result area of giving voice to Cuba's independent journalists. It also touches on several others: solidarity with human rights activists, helping independent NGOs, direct outreach to the people, and transition planning. The FIU-IMC program operates a news desk for editing and training and offers distance learning courses. The grantee's distance-learning curricula and materials have been refined over several years through the group's work in Latin America. FIU-IMC is also translating some independent journalists' work for another grantee, CubaNet. A journalism workshop is pending. Several factors have complicated the FIU-IMC's work. Cuba's repressive political regime makes it difficult to communicate with students In addition, while FIU-IMC works with Cubanet, somewhat divergent needs frustrate close cooperation.. FIU-IMC is concerned with editing and improving the work of independent Cuban journalists. CubaNet places a priority on publishing timely information and has been unable in some cases to wait for FIU-IMC's work on a particular article to conclude. 8. Freedom House Freedom House was founded nearly 60 years ago by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Wilkie, and other Americans concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy, and has labored in this field ever since. It is perhaps best known for its annual evaluation and reports on the status of democracy and human rights, Freedom in the World. For Freedom House, the USAID Cuba Program agreement is one of a number of projects within within a larger enterprise of promoting democracy. The ongoing Cuba project was funded at $275,000 in 1999 and followed an earlier $500,000 Transitions project, which was the first grant awarded under USAID's Cuba Program. In 2000, the organization has doubled its funding for Cuba, receiving $550,000 for Program activities. (The first Cuba project of Freedom House gave rise to another grantee, the Center for a Free Cuba). Center for a Free Cuba's founder and director headed the first Freedom House Cuba project before departing Freedom House to establish the Center. Freedom House's current program works in three intermediate result areas: seeking out and sending to Cuba politicians, journalists, and community activists from East-Central Europe who have experience in democratic transition; promoting partnerships in democracy between Cuban dissidents who want to create NGOs on the island and experts who have built NGOs in other authoritarian regimes; and publishing and distributing in Cuba small brochures about democratic transition written by Eastern Europeans such as Czech President Vaclav Havel. Specific accomplishments include: Freedom House organized training visit to Cuba for 12 persons from East-Central Europe. The program participants included: four journalists, four members of parliament; two economists; a government official; and an academic. Under the Transitions project, Freedom House provided 40,000 Spanish-language books, pamphlets and other materials to the Cuban people on issues such as human rights, transition to democracy and free market economics. Freedom House's work has been complicated by Government of Cuba opposition to pro-democracy activities on the island. 9. Institute for Democracy in Cuba (IDC) The IDC is a coalition of organizations founded in 1996 from several small Cuban-American organizations. Originally funded at $400,000 in April 1998 and extended for a second year for $600,000 through October 2000, the Institute for Democracy in Cuba is the Program's largest grantee. The Institute works in three intermediate results areas: building solidarity with Cuba's human rights activists, promoting independent NGOs, and direct outreach to the Cuban people. Its activities also partially involve the Program's remaining three intermediate results: transition planning, workers' rights, and independent journalism. Specific accomplishments include: IDC delivered more than 6,000 pounds of food and medicine to the families of political prisoners and to other victims of repression throughout the island. IDC sent more than 400 books to Cuba that dealt with civil society and human rights, as well as the writings of Cuba's human rights activists. IDC sent to the island 2,000 copies of its periodical, Somos Uno, every month. Several factors have complicated the IDC's work. While IDC effectively pools the resources and talents of the coalition members, its leadership appeared to the evaluation team to suffer from conflicting policy positions and arguments over programming resources. In seeking to sustain and promote Cuban NGOs and introduce democracy-related materials to the island, the IDC has encountered several operational difficulties: extreme repression by the regime that increases risks to clients, interference with communications, occasional seizure of materials by Cuban customs, break-ins to its Miami headquarters, high delivery costs, and limited delivery channels for material. 10. International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) The International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1987 to provide nonpartisan technical assistance in the promotion of democracy worldwide and serve as a clearinghouse for information about democratic development and elections. Funded at $136,000 by the USAID Cuba Program, IFES prepared a study of the Cuban election system and suggested options for future Cuban election reforms under the transition planning intermediate result area. After four no-cost extensions, the grant was completed on July 31, 1999. IFES brought to the grant extensive prior collaboration with USAID and its considerable in-house expertise and information resources on elections and election systems. IFES staff and consultants researched and wrote the Cuban election document, and translated, abridged, and distributed it on a limited basis to relevant US government agencies and other grantees. Abridged Spanish-language copies have been forwarded to the US Interests Section in Havana for distribution. Several factors complicated IFES' work. IFES personnel reported that the study suffered to an extent from IFES' inability to visit Cuba and meet election officials. In addition, IFES found a reluctance on the part of some US-based academic Cuba experts to consult on the project. IFES staff expressed disappointment that constraints were imposed on the distribution of and publicity about their report in the United States. (On May 9, 2000 the IFES report was posted on the USAID web site). IFES staff also expressed some frustration and surprise at the contentious nature of the Cuba policy arena. 11. International Republican Institute (IRI) The International Republican Institute (IRI), a not-for-profit and nonpartisan organization advancing principles inspired by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, conducts programs outside the United States to promote democracy and strengthen free markets and the rule of law. USAID originally funded IRI's Cuba project at $335,462 in November 1997, later gave the grantee two no-cost extensions, and then gave IRI a funded extension for an additional year for $389,000 through June 10, 2000. IRI, working though its subgrantee the Directorio Revolucionario Democratico Cubano (Directorio), operates in three of the Program's intermediate result areas: building solidarity with Cuba's human rights activists, promoting independent NGOs, and direct outreach to the Cuban people. It also undertakes secondary activity in the area of giving voice to independent journalists. The grantee and its sub-grantee promote solidarity links that support human rights and political freedom in Cuba by encouraging the formation of third party groups, stimulating direct political and diplomatic pressure on the Cuban government on human rights and political freedom, supporting independent Cuban NGOs and creating linkages between Cuban and third country NGOs with similar goals. Specific accomplishments by IRI and its sub-grantee, the Directorio, the Directorio's associated Solidarity Committees, and the Boitel international solidarity network include: Political/Ideological Support The Boitel international solidarity network supported a Cuban pro-freedom movement campaign initiated shortly after the enactment of Law 88 through coordinated events in cities throughout Latin America and Europe. Law 88 enacted in early 1999 established sanctions of up to 20 years for activities such as independent journalism and dissemination of information outside state channels. To continue their work in the increasingly repressive climate, the pro-democracy movement urgently needed international solidarity. The activities mounted by the Boitel network served to strengthen the Cuban pro-freedom movement in critical ways. International recognition-not only of their cause, but also of their specific campaign-enabled the pro-freedom movement to continue struggling as the cost of doing so increased. In preparation for the November 1999 Iberoamerican Summit to be held in Havana, the Boitel network organized activities to educate attending countries about the Cuban internal democratic opposition and solicit international solidarity with their efforts. In September 1999, the Dominican Solidarity Committee provided information about Cuban political prisoners and leaders of the democratic opposition to several interested Dominican legislators. They followed up with the legislators over a period of weeks to answer additional questions. In late October 1999, the Dominican Senate passed a resolution in support of the Cuban democratic opposition and requesting that human rights be respected and free elections held in the island. Based on information provided by the Mexican Solidarity Committee, four Mexican Senators wrote letters to the Cuban government before the Iberoamerican Summit. The Senators asked the Cuban government to comply with the terms of the Viña del Mar and Rio de Janeiro agreements. These agreements enshrine respect for human rights, political pluralism, basic freedoms, rule of law, and representative democracy. They further requested that Cuba legalize all opposition political parties and civic institutions and hold free elections under international supervision. In June 1998, high-ranking members of the Cuban Communist party met with several Mexican Congressmen in Mexico City. Briefed in advance by the Mexico Solidarity Committee, the Congressmen asked the Cubans if they would be willing to implement a pluralist political process with competition from contrary parties and to adopt the principles outlined in the Agreement for Democracy. The Mexicans also asked about the release of political prisoners and the adoption of a general amnesty that would include eliminating the category of political crime from the Cuban penal code. Not accustomed to such inquiries, the Cubans reportedly were taken aback and lamely responded they would study the issues only if the United States lifted its embargo. Significantly, they acknowledged there were political prisoners in Cuba, but blamed that reality on U.S. policy toward Cuba. Pro-democracy activists in Cuba organized several events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on December 10, 1998. The Boitel Campaign solidarity network actively supported these efforts, particularly in response to the government's repression. Dominican and Mexican Solidarity Committees continued their outreach efforts to domestic organizations with an interest in Cuban affairs, such as the Dominican-Cuban Committee, the Dominican Fraternal Order, the Consensus Movement; and in Mexico, pro-life, student, and women's organizations. The Solidarity Committees provided information such as the Mothers' Movement for a General Amnesty video, copies of Steps to Freedom, Agreement for Democracy, Kilo 8, and other materials that provide a foundation for generating greater political and ideological support for the pro-freedom movement in Cuba. In meetings, conferences, and conversations in Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium, Directorio representatives provided current, accurate information on the pro-freedom movement to interested audiences. In meetings, conferences, and conversations in Argentina and Chile, Directorio representatives provided current, accurate information on the pro-freedom movement to interested audiences. Material Support Solidarity Committees in several countries worked together throughout 1999 to support the Independent Libraries Movement in Cuba. Over 600 books were successfully delivered through IRI and its sub-grantee to independent cultural institutions throughout Cuba despite the constant threat of censorship and confiscation of materials. Moral Support Solidarity Committees have collected supportive statements by civil society activists and leaders in Cuba have about the importance of international solidarity efforts to provide moral support. Establishing Linkages/Ties Substantial linkages among international leaders and the Cuban opposition have been facilitated through the efforts of IRI and the Directorio. Disseminating Information Program activities often result in the publication of articles about the Cuban situation in foreign newspapers as well as interviews of Directorio members on radio and television programs. Most of the information for these stories is provided by Solidarity Committee members working with the press. A major focus of the program's work is to facilitate the publication of articles written in Cuba by pro-freedom activists, and the participation of Cuban pro-freedom leaders on radio programs in other countries. IRI staff reported that the length of the USAID award process delayed the implementation of activities but that these delays have never seriously impacted the success of the project. 12. National Policy Association (NPA) The National Policy Association was founded in 1934 as the National Economic and Social Planning Association to promote business-labor dialogue on issues of vital significance to the security and prosperity of the United States. The NPA's work on Cuba focuses primarily in the intermediate results area of defending human rights and the rights of Cuban workers. The NPA's Cuba project works to promote adherence by international private sector firms investing or considering investing in Cuba to certain fundamental principles, including workplace health and safety, fair employment practices, direct employment, and the right organize and bargain collectively. The $225,000 grant was made in October 1999 and extends until October 2000. The NPA organized a June 2000 conference in Mexico City on worker rights and best business practices in Cuba. The conference featured high-level speakers in the area of corporate codes of conduct, the Cuban economy, and the labor situation in Cuba today. NPA has also secured the participation of several USAID Cuba Program grantees as well as a number of leading organizations working in the fields of international business practices and labor rights. After three rounds of interagency and internal reviews, an extended hold by Congress delayed the grant and its implementation until October 1999. 13. Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) Established in 1962 as a subsidiary of the Organization of American States, the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of life in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its programs strengthen local NGOs, municipalities and the private sector in the region, so that they can better assist the least advantaged people. Funded at $236,700 the PADF's agreement with USAID's Cuba Program began in September 1998 and runs through August 2000. The PADF works in the intermediate results area of promoting the development of Cuban independent NGOs. Specific accomplishments include the development of a knowledge base on the environmental NGO community in Cuba and a clearer understanding of their needs to promote an environmental agenda. Several factors complicated some of PADF's work thus far. PADF initially intended to organize an exchange with Cuban environmentalists and their Central American counterparts at a symposium that would be hosted by an El Salvadorian environmental NGO. This program could not be implemented after tensions between Cuba and El Salvador escalated when a Salvadorian was jailed in Havana, charged with committing acts of terrorism. PADF also had several meetings with ProNaturaleza, a Cuban NGO, and had planned to sponsor leaders in the environmental NGO community from Ecuador and several Central American countries to participate in a symposium that ProNaturaleza was sponsoring in Cuba. However, PADF was informed shortly before the date of the event that the Cuban Government would not allow PADF-sponsored participants to attend. As a result of these complications, PADF is focusing its efforts on providing technical material and support (books, equipment, etc.) to independent environmental groups and independent libraries throughout Cuba. 14. Partners of the Americas Partners of the Americas was created in 1964, during he Alliance for Progress, as a way for U.S. and Latin American volunteers to become involved in promoting leadership exchanges and self-help development activities. Today, Partners activities also include environmental and democratization programs. This project was funded at $172,139 of which $20,587 was returned to USAID and is awaiting de-obligation by USAID. Partners promoted the development of links between Cuban NGOs and professional organizations and similar groups in Latin American and the Caribbean. The project called for an exchange of 19 people to and from Cuba. A total of 22 people participated in the exchanges, of whom 19 were fully funded and 3 were partially funded by the Cuba Program. Ten people visited Cuba and 12 Cubans traveled abroad. The project was implemented by working through NGOs and professional associations in Latin America and the Caribbean which made contacts with Cuban counterparts and developed details of the exchanges in cooperation with Partners. Several factors complicated project implementation. Final approval of the project was uncertain and delayed. In addition, the Government of Cuba's adoption of measures criminalizing cooperation with the USAID Cuba Program created a legal scenario in which individuals receiving even indirect assistance, such as a travel grant, could be punished severely. The adoption of this Cuban legislation led Partners to terminate the project before all USAID funds were expended. Partners stated that many of the obstacles were anticipated at the beginning of the project, but not to the degree actually encountered. 15. Rutgers University Funded at $99,000, the Rutgers University grant was used to organize a conference in May 1999 aimed primarily at the intermediate result of planning for transition to democracy in Cuba and related post-conference activities. Eight papers were presented ranging from the likely impact of transition on various strata of Cuban society to infrastructure requirements during earlier and latter stages in this transition. The grant expires in August 2000. It is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of any particular study presented at a conference, but the organizers considered that the meeting and its papers represented a new step in discussion regarding the risks in Cuban transition and the plan for alternative scenarios. The conference involved cooperation among senior scholars and policy personnel from Rutgers University and other universities. The conference organizer and grantee, Prof. Irving Horowitz, noted that despite his long prior administrative experience, the amount of time and effort needed to process the paper work for USAID was considerably greater than expected. The grantee requested and received a one-year extension on this grant, which was necessary for editing, processing, and publishing the papers as the final section of the tenth edition of the book Cuban Communism to be published by Transaction Press. 16. Sabre Foundation Since 1969, the Sabre Foundation has collected and donated books and educational materials to libraries and educational institutions in developing countries. A grant of $85,000 was approved in February 1998 and continues to operate though no-cost extensions through July 2000. The Sabre Foundation works in the intermediate results areas of promoting independent NGOs and direct outreach to the Cuban people. Specific accomplishments include the delivery of books on democracy, human rights, market ecomonies, and other issues to independent groups and individuals in Cuba. Several factors have complicated the work of the Sabre Foundation. USAID required that the Sabre Foundation ship books on politics and economics rather than just client-ordered technical materials; congressional concern caused delays; early publicity of the program complicated implementation; and the proposed local partner backed out after causing lengthy start up delays. Sabre has received grant extensions, has found new Cuban clients, and developed alternative delivery means for materials. Ultimately Sabre's delivery costs escalated sharply above originally anticipated levels while materials delivered declined substantially. 17. U.S.-Cuba Business Council (USCBC) The U.S.-Cuba Business Council was established in 1993 and has sought to become an interlocutor between large U.S. firms and South Florida businesses and Cuba in the eventuality of a free-market transition. Funded at $267,380 for the first year and $300,000 for the second year, the project was completed in June 2000. The USCBC works in the intermediate results area of providing support for the planning of assistance to a post-Castro Cuba, especially helping the US private sector to prepare for Cuba's eventual transition to a free market regime. It also worked in the intermediate result area of helping develop NGOs. Some equipment and some humanitarian assistance was sent to the island as well. The US-Cuban Business Council is assisted in the humanitarian support by AGRIDEC, a dissident support group. Specific accomplishments include: USCBC published its "Cuba Voices" newsletter Transition Cuba in both English and Spanish, which is distributed through intermediaries. USCBC broadcast bimonthly programs on Radio Marti concerning free market economics and democratic institutions. USCBC commissioned several studies of different sectors of the Cuban economy: 90 percent of firms surveyed indicated strong commercial interest in Cuba once U.S. restrictions on trade are lifted. However, only about 30 percent of the firms said they would be likely to explore business opportunities in Cuba under a mixed economy which retained many of the Cuban government's current economic and political controls. About 50 percent would be likely to establish Cuban subsidiaries. About 20 percent of these firms currently have U.S. certified property or asset claims against Cuba. USCBC hosted three conferences on Cuba's economic future in New York, Washington DC and Miami. In June 1998, the first USCBC conference (New York City, Council of the Americas) discussed "Financial Sector Reform and Cuba's Future in the Global Economy." The conference identified key weaknesses in the Cuban financial and banking sectors, which will seriously impede the transition to free market democracy in Cuba. The conference discussed conditions for future macro-economic stability in Cuba. Participants included 60 U.S. private sector and public sector representatives as well as officials from the international financial institutions. The second conference (October 1998, Washington D.C.) focused on small business and free labor development in a transitional Cuba. The third conference (November 10, 1998, Miami) analyzed the needs of Cuba's industrial infrastructure during a future transition to democracy. At the final conference (March 8, 1999, Miami), "Support for a Free Market Democratic Transition in Cuba," the USCBC presented its survey of 55 U.S. Corporate 1000 companies, as well as the five reports produced by its Cuba Research Working Group (on the status of Cuba's industrial infrastructure; the status of the financial sector; building private enterprise and independent labor organizations, and Cuba's economic transition: challenges and solutions). Several factors have complicated the USCBC's work. Staff reported that the cost of the administration of the USAID grant is an obstacle because the amount of work is greater than anticipated. They requested that USAID tailor some administrative requirements to the needs and limited resources of very small NGOs. Staff also reported difficulties working with a closed society such as Cuba. 1 See the section in this appendix on the activities of the Cuban Dissidence Task Group for a description of the Group of Four. [Return to text]

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