Afrasianet - The United States Agency for International Development collapses, exposing a massive network of "independent" media outlets funded by the United States. It also reveals the funding of institutions whose sole purpose is to destroy communities, families, and social cohesion. 

An investigation published by Mintpressnews by writer Alan McLeod explores the connection between the cessation of USAID funding and the collapse of hundreds of media outlets worldwide. He also reveals the true agenda of USAID. 

The author says, "The Trump administration's decision to defund the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has plunged hundreds of so-called "independent" media outlets into crisis. It has also exposed a global network of thousands of journalists, all working to promote American interests in their home countries. 

In late January, President Trump, along with the help of his government efficiency chief, Elon Musk, began implementing sweeping changes to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), based on the assumption that the organization's promotion of liberal and progressive causes was a colossal waste of money. 

The agency's website and Twitter account disappeared amid widespread speculation that it would cease to exist or be merged into the State Department, headed by Marco Rubio. 

The immediate cessation of aid sent shockwaves around the world, particularly among international media outlets, many of which, unbeknownst to their readers, rely entirely on funding from Washington. In total, USAID spends more than a quarter of a billion dollars annually on its programs.

Training and funding for a vast network of more than 6,200 reporters in nearly 1,000 news outlets or journalistic organizations, all under the guise of strengthening "independent media." With funds suddenly cut off, media outlets around the world are panicking, turning to their readers for donations, thus exposing themselves as fronts for American power. 

Ukraine is perhaps the country most affected by this sudden policy shift. While Oksana Romanyuk, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Mass Communication, criticized the decision, she revealed that nearly 90% of the country's media are funded by USAID, including several outlets that have no other source of funding. Olga Rudenko, editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Independent (a Washington-funded outlet), denounced the decision. 

Last month, I wrote that the USAID freeze "poses a greater threat to independent Ukrainian journalism than the COVID-19 pandemic or the Russian invasion." Since then, the Kyiv Independent has asked its readers to support a funding campaign to keep pro-US Ukrainian media alive. 

Other major Ukrainian outlets, such as Hromadskiy and PhoS Info, have done the same. Anti-government Cuban media have found themselves in a similar predicament. Miami-based CubaNet published an editorial asking readers for money. “We are facing an unexpected challenge: the suspension of major funding that has supported part of our work,” it wrote. “If you value our work and believe in keeping the truth alive, we ask for your support.”

Last year, CubaNet received $500,000 in USAID funding to engage “young Cubans through objective and uncensored multimedia journalism.” However, skeptics may visit the website and see little in the way of anti-communist talking points. 

The Madrid-based Diario de Cuba is also in a dire situation. Late last week, Executive Director Pablo Díaz Espí noted that "aid to independent journalism from the United States government has been suspended, making our work more difficult," before asking readers to subscribe. 

Since the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the United States has spent vast sums of money funding media networks in an attempt to overthrow the government. Between 1985 and 2013 alone, Martí received more than half a billion dollars.

Around the world, the funding freeze has put media outlets at risk of immediate closure. Burmese organizations have already begun laying off staff. It is believed that approximately 200 journalists are paid directly by USAID. "We are struggling to survive," 

Western News editor-in-chief Wonna Khuwar New told Voice of America. "I can't imagine how people will manage without a salary to pay the rent." A recent survey of 20 leading Belarusian media outlets found that 60% of their budgets come from Washington. Speaking about the USAID funding cut, Natalia Belikova of the Belarusian Press Club warned that "they are at risk of fading away and gradually disappearing." 

In Iran, US-backed media outlets have already been forced to lay off workers. A BBC Persian report indicated that more than 30 Iranian groups held a crisis meeting to discuss how to respond to the aid cut. 

As in Iran, anti-government media in Nicaragua rely heavily on subsidies from Washington. The US-backed Nicaraguan Investiga condemned Trump's decision, calling it a "serious blow" to media outlets that "rely heavily on the financial and technical support provided by agencies like USAID." Another country awash with Western NGO money is Georgia. On January 30, Georgia Today noted that USAID funding was a "cornerstone." 

It warned that a number of organizations would immediately close their doors permanently without a steady flow of funds. Similar reports emerged from Serbia, Moldova, and Latin America. 

Meanwhile, social media users noted that some of the most prominent anti-China voices on their own platforms have been "strangely" silent since the USAID closure. 

Therefore, the USAID funding cut highlighted that the United States has intentionally created a massive network of thousands of journalists around the world, each producing pro-US content. USAID will prioritize LGBTQI+ organizations (i.e., organizations led by LGBTQI+ people, with a majority of staff and board members representing diverse LGBTQI+ communities) and/or LGBTQI+ coalitions leading regional/multi-country activities in countries where the agency is present. 

The agency will consider applications from U.S. and developed-nation and Nordic-led LGBTQI+ organizations and/or non-LGBTQI+-led organizations in the absence of competing concept notes from a regional/subregional partner. 

The Trump administration has said that USAID has poured vast sums of funding into its Diversity, Equity, and Equality (DEL) and LGBTQ programs into activities that are "wasteful" and "abusive" for decades. 

In a statement on Monday, the White House stated that USAID was "unaccountable to taxpayers while funneling" vast sums of money to "frivolous—and, in many cases, malicious—projects of entrenched officials," with minimal oversight. 

The list of "waste" and "abuse" included $1.5 million to promote justice, equity, and equality (DEI) in workplaces and business communities in Serbia, $47,000 for a "transgender" opera in Colombia, and $32,000 for a "transgender" comic book in Peru. 

It added $2 million for gender reassignment and "LGBTQ activism" in Guatemala, and "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to a nonprofit with ties to "designated terrorist organizations"—even after an inspector general investigation—were also included on the list. It noted that the list "continues," adding that "waste, fraud, and abuse now end" under the US president. 

Donald Trump. Some USAID-supported journalists openly admit that their funding dictates their production and the stories they cover or do not cover. Lejla Bikacic, CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting (a Bosnian organization supported by USAID), admitted on camera that "if you're funded by the U.S. government, there are certain topics you simply won't pursue because the U.S. government has its own interests above everything else."

USAID influences global media and communications in ways far deeper than simply sponsoring news outlets. Last March, a 97-page USAID document was obtained. The document revealed a widespread censorship and suppression operation on social media platforms, including X, Facebook, Twitch, Reddit, 4Chan, Discord, and other sites, enabling users to build communities and develop opinions and viewpoints that challenge the official U.S. government narrative.

USAID justified its decision to censor these platforms by claiming it sought to stem the flow of misinformation. But the term "misinformation" refers to inconvenient truths that the US government would prefer the public not know. 

The document makes clear that its primary concern is not China or Russia, but their local populations. But USAID isn't the only government agency trying to control global narratives. 

The National Endowment for Democracy (also reportedly in Musk's crosshairs) sponsors media outlets worldwide. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense deploys a massive covert army of at least 60,000 people tasked with influencing public opinion, most of them through their own keyboards. A 2021 Newsweek report described the operation as "the largest covert force the world has ever known." 

The AppX files revealed the Department of Defense's mysterious actions. It revealed how the Department of Defense worked with the app to implement a Washington-led influence operation across the Middle East, even as the app claimed to be working to shut down foreign-backed disinformation operations. 

A MintPress News investigation revealed how the top echelons of social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Google, TikTok, and Reddit are filled with former officials from the CIA, USAID, and other national security agencies. 

Some might question what the problem is with receiving money from USAID in the first place. Supporters of the organization say it does a lot of good around the world, helping vaccinate children or provide clean drinking water. Looking at the organization's website (now defunct), one might assume it's a charitable group promoting progressive values. Explaining his decision to shut down the organization, Musk described it as a "snake's nest of radical left-wing Marxists who hate America." However, this couldn't be further from the truth. 

In fact, since its inception, USAID has consistently targeted leftist and non-aligned governments, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In 2021, USAID was a key player behind a failed Color Revolution (a pro-US rebellion) in Cuba. 

The organization spent millions of dollars funding and training musicians and activists on the island, organizing them into an anti-communist revolutionary force. USAID also created a number of covert applications aimed at regime change. 

The most notable of these was Zunzuño, often described as the "Twitter of Cuba." The idea was to create a successful messaging and news app to capture the Cuban market, then slowly feed the population anti-government propaganda and direct them to protests and "smart crowds," all aimed at sparking a color revolution. 

In an attempt to conceal its ownership of the project, the US government held a secret meeting with former Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to entice him to invest in it.

It is unclear to what extent Dorsey contributed to this project, as he refused to discuss it. In 2014, USAID's program in Cuba was exposed again. This time, the organization was running fake HIV prevention workshops as a cover for gathering intelligence and recruiting a network of agents on the island.

In Venezuela, too, USAID has acted as a force for regime change. It was closely involved in the failed 2002 coup against President Hugo Chávez, funding and training key coup leaders in the run-up to the rebellion. Since then, it has consistently attempted to undermine Venezuelan democracy, including by funding self-declared president Juan Guaidó. 

It was even at the center of a disastrous 2019 plot in which US-backed figures attempted to drive trucks full of USAID-sponsored "aid" into the country, only to set fire to the shipment and blame the government. 

In an effort to eliminate the threat of socialism, USAID agents are also known to have taught torture techniques to right-wing dictatorships in Latin America. In Uruguay, USAID's Dan Mitrione taught police how to apply electricity to sensitive areas of the body, use drugs to induce vomiting, and use advanced psychological torture techniques. Mitrione wanted to experiment on live subjects, so he would kidnap beggars off the streets and torture them to death. 

The notorious Guatemalan police, complicit in the genocide of the country's Mayan population, relied heavily on USAID for training. By 1970, at least 30,000 police officers had undergone counterinsurgency training, organized and paid for by USAID. USAID was even more implicated in the genocide in Peru in the 1990s. 

Between 1996 and 2000, Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori ordered the forced mass sterilization of 300,000 women, most of them indigenous. USAID donated approximately $35 million to the program, which is now widely understood to constitute genocide. 

No US official has faced legal accountability. The beginnings of USAID date back to 1961, an era when national liberation movements in Latin America, Africa, and Asia were fighting and winning for their independence. 

Progressive revolutions, such as the one in Cuba, were inspiring the world, and communist states, such as the Soviet Union, were rapidly developing and challenging US hegemony. USAID was established as a counterweight to all this, attempting to support conservative, pro-US governments. Since its inception, the agency has worked hand in hand with the CIA. Ultimately, this information reveals that our media is not free, but rather dominated by powerful interests. The most powerful of these is the US government. 

For Washington, controlling public discourse is as important as controlling the seas or the skies. That's why the government invests billions of dollars in doing so. Revealing that USAID funds a vast network of journalists around the world, shaping narratives favorable to US interests, highlights the fact that we are swimming in an ocean of propaganda, and most of us don't even realize it. 

The United States spends billions of dollars promoting its interests and discrediting China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, and other enemies, all in an attempt to control our reality. While USAID, as an organization, appears to have officially disappeared and become subordinated to the State Department, 

Secretary of State Rubio has stated that many of its functions will continue as long as they are aligned with the "national interest" and not "charity." As such, it likely won't be long before the money taps flow back into these pro-US outlets. However, the demise of USAID has, at least, had one positive effect: it has exposed vast swaths of the global media for what they are: US imperialist propaganda projects.

The agency can continue with multiple bids. USAID will prioritize LGBTQI+ organizations (i.e., organizations led by LGBTQI+ people, in which a majority of staff and board members are LGBTQI+ diverse) and/or LGBTQI+ coalitions leading regional/multi-country activities in countries where the agency is present. The agency will consider applications from U.S. and developed-nation and Nordic-led LGBTQI+ organizations and/or non-LGBTQI+-led organizations in the absence of competing concept notes from a regional/subregional partner. T

he Trump administration has said that USAID has poured vast sums of funding into its Diversity, Equity, and Equality (DEL) and LGBTQ programs into "wasteful" and "abusive" activities for decades. In a statement on Monday, the White House stated that USAID was "unaccountable to taxpayers while funneling" vast sums of money to "frivolous—and, in many cases, malicious—projects of entrenched officials," with minimal oversight. 

The list of "waste" and "abuse" included $1.5 million to promote justice, equity, and equality (DEI) in workplaces and business communities in Serbia, $47,000 for a "transgender" opera in Colombia, and $32,000 for a "transgender" comic book in Peru. It added $2 million for gender reassignment and "LGBTQ activism" in Guatemala, and "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to a nonprofit with ties to "designated terrorist organizations"—even after an inspector general investigation—were also included on the list. It noted that the list "continues," adding that "waste, fraud, and abuse continue." 

It may be said that it could end now, under US President Donald Trump. But it will certainly take other forms and in missions focused on subverting values and ideas that conflict with the American duo, Trump and Musk.