WHAT DOES USAID DO?

Contrary to popular perception, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) does not provide aid without strings attached. Rather, according to former US State Department official Mike Benz (@mikebenzcyber on X), it implements US foreign policy through development and capacity-building initiatives.

In Africa, USAID has funded health, education, and governance programmes. Notably, initiatives like the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) have been crucial in combating HIV/AIDS, saving millions of lives across the continent.

However, many like Benz see USAID operations as a means to an end, a Trojan horse. Some argue that its programmes perpetuate dependency, undermine local industries, and advance US interests at the expense of local needs. The organisation has been implicated in regime-change efforts in Cuba, where it created a ‘Cuban Twitter’ called ‘ZunZuneo’ to stir unrest beginning in 2009. Foreign Policy magazine reported USAID attempted to undermine Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (1954-2013) by penetrating his political base, dividing the Chavismo movement and isolating Chavez internationally. USAID also ran a torture-training programme with Uruguayan police. USAID funded Ukrainian media organisations and NGOs in the run-up to the 2014 Maidan coup that toppled a democratically elected president, backed think tanks that pushed to cancel Romania's 2024 election results and supported the extremist rebel-linked White Helmets in Syria.

USAID funnelled tens of millions of dollars to extend the corrupt DRC president, Mobutu Sese Seko's (1930-97), tenure. Seko helped overthrow DRC's Pan-Africanist prime minister, Patrice Lumumba (1935-61), and continued to be a US ally during the height of the Cold War.

With US President Donald Trump’s decision to shut down the agency, do you think Washington’s foreign interference will end? Please let us know.

Sources:

https://the307.substack.com/p/how-the-ned-and-usaid-are-tools-of 

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/teaching-torture-the-death-and-legacy-of-dan-mitrione

https://archive.ph/WN5BA

https://apnews.com/article/technology-cuba-united-states-government-904a9a6a1bcd46cebfc14bea2ee30fdf 

https://democracyfund.ru/userfiles/THE%20%20WHITE%20HELMETS%20.pdf 

USAID Mobutu

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/3/what-is-usaid-and-how-central-is-it-to-us-foreign-policy 

https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-usaid-at-60-101934