U.S. Tried Hip-Hop to Spark Cuban Revolt

The U.S. Agency for International Development secretly infiltrated Cuba’s underground hip-hop scene in an effort to stoke an anti-government movement, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press. USAID contractor Creative Associates International was paid millions of dollars to recruit young musicians looking for “social change,” disguising their efforts as cultural initiatives as part of a covert operation to spark political dissent and undermine Cuba’s communist government. But the effort was considered unsuccessful as authorities interrogated USAID contractors or Cubans on at least six occasions, seizing computers and other equipment, and artists stopped performing or left the country under government pressure.