5 things to know about USAID's secret hip-hop program in Cuba

In April, The Associated Press revealed that the U.S. Agency for International Development had overseen the creation of a secret "Cuban Twitter" program to stir political dissent on the island and bypass Cuba's stranglehold on the Internet. But that was part of a larger operation. A second AP investigation in August found the agency dispatched young Latin Americans to provoke political change in Cuba, using health and civic programs as cover.

Now the AP has found the agency secretly cultivated Cuba's underground hip-hop scene, recruiting unwitting rappers to spark a youth movement against the government.

Here are five things to know:

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THE PRECEDENT

The USAID hip-hop program was inspired by Serbian student protest concerts that helped oust former President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Serbians involved in that effort guided the Cuban hip-hop program.

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The Serbians recruited musicians for the project, including rappers Los Aldeanos, whose critical lyrics had provoked the government to restrict their performances. Los Aldeanos helped produce an underground TV project on youth culture and received political training while performing in Serbia, but U.S. government connections of the program were hidden from them.

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REPEATED RISK

On at least six occasions, USAID contractors or Cubans they were working with were detained or interrogated. A number of times, authorities seized computer equipment with material linking the program to USAID. But contractors kept taking risks — even with the unwitting Cuban artists.

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