Covert US Operation To Infiltrate Cuban Hip-Hop

The US secretly infiltrated Cuba's underground hip-hop scene to recruit rappers in an attempt to spark a youth movement against the government, it is claimed.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that the plan was to build and promote a network of young rappers seeking "social change".

But the amateurish operation by development agency USAID was a failure, with people involved in the programme detained or interrogated by Cuban authorities on at least six occasions.

Authorities also confiscated computer hardware which contained information on Cubans who did not know they were caught up in the clandestine operation.

Eventually, artists promoted by USAID’s contractors left the country or stopped performing after pressure from the Cuban government.

One of the island's most popular independent music festivals was also taken over after officials linked it to USAID.

The documents obtained include thousands of pages of contracts, emails, budgets and expense reports.

Previous attempts to influence people in the country include the creation of a Cuban version of Twitter and dispatching inexperienced Latin American youths to recruit activists.

In a statement USAID said its aims were to strengthen civil society in Cuba, adding: "Any assertions that our work is secret or covert are simply false."

The plan was apparently inspired by the protest concerts of the student movement which helped to undermine former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

Contractors would recruit Cuban musicians for projects disguised as cultural initiatives but really aimed at boosting their visibility to stoke a movement of fans to challenge the government.

One of the contractors used a Panama front company and a bank in Lichtenstein to hide the money trail from Cuba, where thousands of dollars went to fund a hip-hop TV programme which was distributed on DVDs to circumvent Cuba's censors.