ZunZuneo was an online United States state owned company social networking and

microblogging Microblogging is a form of social network that permits only short posts. They "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links",. Retrieved June 5, 2014 which may be the major reason for ...

service marketed to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n users. The service was created in 2010 by the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

(USAID). The US government covertly developed the service as a long-term strategy to encourage Cuban youths to revolt against the nation's government, fomenting a "Cuban

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

". The initiative also appears to have had a surveillance dimension, allowing "a vast database about Cuban ZunZuneo subscribers, including gender, age, 'receptiveness' and 'political tendencies to be built. The word "zunzuneo" is Cuban slang for a hummingbird's call. Contractors funded by USAID "set up a byzantine system of front companies using a Cayman Islands bank account, and recruit dunsuspecting executives who would not be told of the company's ties to the US government", according to an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

(AP) report which traced the origin of the service. ZunZuneo, dubbed the "Cuban

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

", reached at least 40,000 Cuban subscribers but was retired in 2012 without notice. According to the AP, the service was ended because of the expiration of the grant that funded the program. The developers aimed to use "non-controversial content", such as sport and music, to build up subscribers and to then introduce political messages to encourage

dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

. The AP released an exposé on ZunZuneo in April 2014. Following the report, the US government acknowledged that it funded the service but denied that it was a covert program. According to a USAID spokesperson, the program was reviewed by the Government Accountability Office in 2013, and found to have been executed in accordance with US law. The

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid ...

requested documents about the program from USAID. In 2014, the US Office of Cuba Broadcasting announced that it was creating a successor, Piramideo. The platform is designed to spread anti-communist and pro-United States propaganda.

References

{{reflist Cuba–United States relations Defunct microblogging services Internet in Cuba Internet properties disestablished in 2012 Internet properties established in 2010 Obama administration controversies United States Agency for International Development United States government propaganda organizations United States propaganda in Cuba

See also

References