Open Society Foundations (OSF) and Cuba

Open Society Foundations is the current (2021) name for a collection of foundations started by billionaire George Soros (net worth $25 billions in 2017) in Eastern Europe to support countries moving away from communism and Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe, earning him the long lasting enmity of Russia. Formerly known as Open Society Institute (OSI), the OSF was also involved in the Ukraine, where they supported the Maidan revolt against the then Moscow dominated Ukrainian government. Thanks to a massacre in Maidan Square of progressive forces under unclear circumstances, the pro Russia government was overthrown and a new one installed that included a number of Nazis from parties in the Ukraine that had survived underground since World War II, when they were allies of the Germans.

George Soros is the founder and chair of the Open Society Foundations. He has given away more than $32 billion of his personal fortune to fund the Open Society Foundations’ work around the world. -- www.opensocietyfoundations.org

Shortly before or in early 2017, an OSF delegation came to Cuba and met with a government committee. OSF offered Cuba many millions of dollars to open the country up to their projects. They were told that Cuba would not accept any of their money.

OSF's efforts in Cuba were at one time (2017) and perhaps still are led by Dr. Katrin Hansing, who has specialized in issues of racism and economics. This should not be seen as a co-incidence, given the 40 year effort to use race against Cuba.

OSF has funded the following organizations who have Cuba related activities. The list reflects OSF wide ranging interests outside of Cuba and gives an idea why many US "progressives" defend OSF. Cuba Posible puts forth the most positive case here: El “oro de Soros”, el “ajiaco conspirativo” y el debate en Cuba 10/27/2017 Cuba Posible. One of our concerns is how often OSF shows up collaborating closely with USAID and NED in projects supporting the projection of US power.

Cuba Posible

Global Exchange (known to be very progressive)

National Security Archives

Programa Cuba del Instituto de Estudios Latinoamericanos (ILAS)
de la Universidad de Columbia (New York)

Otpor and CANVAS have worked closely with Open Society Foundation ever since OSF funded Otpor in their struggle against Milosevic:

The Seed Money for Democracy 1/26/2001 LA Times: "But the multibillionaire philanthropist quietly played a key role in the dramatic overthrow last year of President Slobodan Milosevic. His Soros Foundations Network helped finance several pro-democracy groups, including the student organization Otpor, which spearheaded grass-roots resistance to the authoritarian Yugoslav leader. “We were here to support the civil sector--the people who were fighting against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic the past 10 years,” said Velimir Curgus of the Soros network’s Belgrade branch. “Most of our work was undercover.”"

OSF is in favor of drug legalization. If carried out across the board for all drugs and with medical support for addicts, this would have a far reaching effect on public health and crime. Portugal did this and their addiction rates plunged. Such a policy change is already being carried out and has started in Oregon with the 2020 passage of all drug legalization. The murderous cartels will need to invest in another line of business, possibly less lucrative. This represents a dramatic change within the system as it was OSF's partner, the CIA, which helped create these cartels, in part thanks to the man who killed Che Guevara, Felix Rodriguez.

OSF has been targeted as globalists and Jewish by white nationalists; this has increased under Trump, who diminished cooperation with them. That cooperation is likely to resume under Biden.

-- Claude Betancourt

Articles/Artículos - Cuba

De patria y cultura en tiempos de Revolución (III)  1/14/2021 Cubadebate: "A las tertulias de Kelly también asistió una condiscípula suya en Georgetown: Katrin Hansing, profesora de Antropología del Baruch College en Nueva York y experta en el tema Cuba dentro de la vertiente menos beligerante del diseño de influencia. El 10 de febrero de 2013 —mientras su compañero de claustro, Ted Henken, se preparaba para acompañar a Yoani Sánchez en su gira por Estados Unidos—, Katrin envió a Soros un informe con un título revelador: “Documento de antecedentes: Cuba”, que concluía: “El actual período de cambio es un momento oportuno para tender la mano y trabajar con Cuba y los cubanos, para apoyarlos a convertirse en una sociedad más abierta” (Hansing, 2013)."

Los ideólogos del golpe blando: Open Society en Cuba y la articulación contrarrevolucionaria  1/5/2021 Cubadebate: "Para esto, los planes estadounidenses, además de los financiamientos de la National Endowment for Democracy (NED) y la USAID, ponen a Cuba en la lista de países en los que actúa la entidad financiera internacional Open Society Foundations, creada por el multimillonario George Soros, que se dedica a la organización de proyectos grupales, que utilicen las causas sociales y de derechos humanos para trabajar por el derrocamiento de gobiernos y cambios de régimen, bajo el romántico nombre de ¨revoluciones de colores¨."

Inspector General: Radio & TV Martí failed to communicate  1/5/2021 Cuba Money Project: "In 2018, Radio and TV Martí broadcast a video raising conspiracy theories about Jewish philanthropist George Soros and calling him a “non-practicing Jew of flexible morals.” Lawmakers and others criticized the network, asking why U.S. taxpayers were funding anti-Semitic broadcasts. Eight staffers were eventually fired, the Miami Herald reported in 2019. The episode triggered investigations into Radio and TV Martí and four other federally-funded networks. John Lansing, then director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, also ordered reforms aimed at retraining staff and keeping politics out of journalism."

“Si no conocemos lo que es la Open Society Foundation tenemos el debate perdido”  11/30/2020 Jiribilla: "Un dato apenas de la Fundación: 1 000 000 000 000 de dólares invertidos en 120 países en los últimos cinco años, 48 procesos de “revoluciones de color” que dejaron destrozado a todo el Medio Oriente. Empezó en Túnez, como sabemos, siguió por Egipto, continuó en Libia, se intentó en Siria y se importó a América Latina: Venezuela sufrió tres intentos de “revolución de color” —2007, 2014, 2017— y Venezuela es, podemos decirlo hoy aquí, asegurarlo, el único país que ha sabido enfrentar la “revolución de color” y la ha desarmado desde la inteligencia política y desde la audacia."

Fundación Nacional para la Democracia y Open Society Foundation. Parte II  8/3/2020 El Joven Cubano: por Karlito darx Jung - "No es posible evaluar un acontecimiento político adverso a escala mundial sin tomar en cuenta la incidencia de Open Society Foundation (OSF) y la Fundación Nacional para la Democracia (NED) y sus dueños o jefes, George Soros y Carl Gershman. Con oficinas en Estados Unidos -New York y Washington DC-, NED y OSF han liderado los más importantes procesos en Europa Oriental y América Latina en los últimos cuarenta años, haciendo emerger concepciones políticas a favor de los “incólumes” valores democráticos del capitalismo y sus clases hegemónicas."

A Quien Pueda Interesar: Nuestra ruta del dinero  5/13/2020 El Estornudo: "Hasta hoy, nadie ha podido presentar en contra de El Estornudo una sola evidencia de que sus fuentes de financiamiento —Open Society Foundations y National Endowment for Democracy— intervengan en sus decisiones editoriales o sus contenidos, y no por falta de acceso a información sobre la revista. En múltiples ocasiones hemos hablado públicamente sobre nuestra labor y concedido entrevistas a investigadores y estudiantes de Cuba y otros países que se han propuesto estudiar nuestras rutinas productivas. Además, quienes colaboran con El Estornudo saben que para publicar no atendemos a otros criterios que no sean periodísticos."

El “oro de Soros”, el “ajiaco conspirativo” y el debate en Cuba  10/27/2017 Cuba Posible: "El argumento de que cualquiera que se aproxima a esas fundaciones se contamina, falla cuando se comprueba la evidencia de que la Fundación Open Society habría financiado instituciones que son abiertamente solidarias con la Revolución cubana, como son Global Exchange y National Security Archive Project. De hecho, la Fundación Open Society no ha financiado exclusivamente actividades sobre Cuba organizadas por Cuba Posible, como puede comprobarse en el sitio web del Programa Cuba del Instituto de Estudios Latinoamericanos (ILAS) de la Universidad de Columbia (New York). Se dice textualmente: “El Programa Cuba es actualmente financiado por Open Society Foundations y Ford Foundation” (The Cuba Program is currently funded by Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation). El “Programa Cuba” de ILAS incluye un Programa de Intercambio Académico entre la Universidad de Columbia y la Universidad de La Habana, bajo el cual se realizan visitas académicas entre ambos países. También ILAS ha mantenido un proyecto de colaboración con el Centro de Investigaciones de Política Internacional (CIPI) del Instituto Superior de Relaciones Internacionales, en La Habana."

Soros y lo hegemónico como alternativo  9/14/2016 Pupila Insomne: por Iroel Sánchez, reproducido en Cuba Debate - "Como soy cubano no pude sustraerme a la búsqueda de la palabra “Cuba” en DCLeaks y el hallazgo fue revelador. Un informe titulado “BackGround Paper: CUBA” fechado en 2013, firmado por Katrin Hansing, que concluye afirmando algo que es casi exacto a lo planteado reiteradamente por el Presidente Barack Obama desde el 17 de diciembre de 2014: “The current period of change is an opportune moment to reach out and work with Cuba and Cubans to support them to become a more open society”"

El lobo y la fábula de Cuba Posible  6/1/2016 Pupila Insomne: por Por Yeniel Cabrera Duardo - "Hoy nos quieren imponer todo lo contrario -el lobo villano convertido en cordero-, cuando presentan con pasmosa naturalidad a la organización Open Society (Sociedad Abierta), como una caritativa e inofensiva organización que financia y acoge a un minúsculo grupo de personas que, desde esta isla, fueron a debatir en Nueva York el futuro de Cuba, entre extranjeros y emigrados."

“Los desafíos actuales de Cuba”… con George Soros y sus Open Society Foundations  5/27/2016 Cuba Debate: por Iroel Sánchez - "Este 26 de mayo Open Society Foundations acogió en su sede de New York al “laboratorio de ideas” Cuba Posible. Bastante parecido a Encuentro… Cuba Posible, según declaraciones de su “director”, Roberto Veiga, promueve el “transitional change” y una “multiparty Cuba”. El evento neoyorquino, organizado por Cuba Posible junto a un think tank financiado por la Fundación Ford y Open Society, versó sobre “los desafíos actuales de Cuba”."

Raul Capote, history professor/double agent  4/3/2015 ¡Viva Cuba!: "He told us he took actions on behalf of the CIA related to regime change by promoting ideology among the youth as part of an operation called “Project Genesis”. This operation was financed by USAID and implemented through Creative Associates, and the focus was to form youth leaders at the university, which he claimed was based off of a model of an operation in Yugoslavia. Project Genesis was supposed to give scholarships to young leaders in Cuba who might promote democracy or policies that aimed to change Cuba, while also creating internet and cellphone networks outside government control, which he described it as USAID-built “Cuban Twitter”. Though it was meant to be non-violent, there was “inevitably” some violence, he said, but didn’t elaborate further."

Cuban double agent reveals CIA machinations in Cuba  6/7/2014 Cubano en UK: "One of Capote’s first tasks as the CIA’s agent Pablo was to create a literary agency grouping together Cuban writers who were discontented or felt that their work was insufficiently promoted by Cuba’s cultural institutions. The idea was to promote counter-revolutionary ideas, offering them financial support. Capote was also instructed to create a foundation to be called Genesis, which, he was told, would function as an NGO in the education sector. Its role would be to create future politicians, leaders and above all ‘democratic citizens’. Capote was the key player in this task, as his work within the universities would facilitate the CIA penetration of this sector, university students, which was considered vital to their plans."

Cuba’s Changing Economy: Challenges and Opportunities  12/4/2013 Open Societies Foundation: "Katrin Hansing (Moderator) teaches at the Free University Berlin and is Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at City University New York (CUNY). Previously, she was Associate Director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University in Miami. She currently serves as a consultant to the Open Society Latin America Program."

Cuba’s Changing Economy: Challenges and Opportunities  11/4/2013 Open Society Foundations: "In 2006 Fidel Castro retired as Cuba’s president and was replaced by his brother, Raúl. Although the shift in leadership from one Castro to another has hardly offered a serious challenge to the established power structure, Raúl Castro has introduced a sweeping set of economic and social reforms, which are fundamentally altering the country. The newly emerging economy can best be described as a public-private hybrid, in which multiple forms of production, property ownership, and investment, in addition to a much slimmer welfare state and greater personal freedoms, will coexist with military run state-companies in key economic sectors, plus continued one party rule."

Background Paper: CUBA  10/2/2013 Open Society Foundations: "During the island’s current transition, OSF is interested in exploring ways in which it could support Cubans to develop a more open society. The question is which actors will drive that change and to what degree Cuban citizens can access the resources and information necessary to ensure that the change is not just driven by a few, powerful domestic and/or outside interests. In order to better understand and appreciate the complexities of the current situation, this background paper will provide an overview of some of the main political, economic, and social developments that have taken place in Cuba over the past few decades. It will also offer some thoughts on the island’s future."

OPEN SOCIETY LATIN AMERICA PROGRAM (LAP)  3/1/2012 Open Society Foundations: "Regarding national-level policies, LAP will support efforts to counter authoritarian trends in Venezuela and Nicaragua and look for opportunities to encourage a democratic opening in Cuba."

OSF outside of Cuba

CPP calls out foreign NGOs for stirring ‘colour revolution’  1/21/2021 Phnom Penh Post: "The lawmaker named NGOs the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Freedom House and also referred to the Open Society Institute, an apparent reference to the Open Societies Foundation (OSF), an organisation founded by billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros."

Enemy in the Making: The Language of “Anti-Sorosism” in the U.S. and Hungary  7/9/2020 Political Research Associates: "In our analysis of anti-Soros discourse in the U.S. and Hungary,[18] we found that both evoke identical frames, which are themselves interconnected. These include the frames of: (1) clandestine conspiracy; (2) excessive power and world domination; (3) the puppet master; (4) far-left radicalism; and (5) victimization."

Más de 30 organizaciones han financiado proyectos de Provea  2/21/2020 Runrun: "“Los dos cooperantes históricos de Provea son Misereor, que son cristianos y cuya parte de sus recursos provienen del gobierno alemán y la fundación Open Society Institute que está en los Estados Unidos”, sentenció Uzcátegui."

The Dishonest Career of the Remarkable Srda Popovic  1/10/2017 New Eastern Outlook: "Many readers likely never heard the name of the remarkable Serbia-born political operator named Srda Popovic. Yet he and his organization, CANVAS, have played a lead role in most every CIA-backed Color Revolution since he led the toppling of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, at least fifty according to last count. Now he has turned his sights on Hungary and Hungary’s popular and defiant Prime Minister Victor Orban."

Anti-Trump US Color Revolution Includes Soros and Clinton ‘Purple’ Takeover?  11/12/2016 Zero Hedge: Zero Hedge is a Russian site

Leaked Memo: Is Soros Planning 'Series of Color Revolutions' in Southeast Asia?  10/28/2016 Sputnik News: ""To the agitprop entrepreneur, the returns on revolutionary investments are immense," he underscored. "A wealthy hedge fund manager can short a targeted market before executing a pre-planned 'revolution.' The resultant stock market and currency meltdown would provide self-evidentiary 'proof' to an anxious public, exerting more pressure on the government of the day to either capitulate or concede to 'popular demands' that are actually drafted abroad, likely by the IMF!"

10 Dark Secrets Of George Soros  10/21/2016 Listverse: "Not content with crashing major economies in Asia and Latin America, in 1998 Soros set his eyes on the biggest prizes going: Hong Kong and China. Had he succeeded in repeating his trick, it’s almost certain that his actions would have sparked a worldwide recession.It was summer ‘98, and Soros was already filthy rich from screwing over the rest of Asia. Nonetheless, he still wanted more. In August that year, he trained his guns on the Hong Kong Dollar. It was only thanks to financial secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen that he failed to bring Hong Kong crashing down too.Yam-kuen went on an unprecedented buying spree, sinking HK$118 billion into the stock market to block Soros’s currency manipulations. It trashed Hong Kong’s reputation among financiers and cost the government, but at least it kept locals safe from a full-blown meltdown. Soros, for his part, has never apologized."

DCLeaks Website Down, Twitter Suspended After Releasing Soros Docs  8/27/2016 Daily Caller: "DCLeaks, a website that releases information on powerful political figures, has had part of its website taken offline after releasing a cache of documents on billionaire donor George Soros. The @DCLeaks Twitter account has also been suspended from Twitter for reasons unknown. The website had previously released 2,500 internal Open Society Foundation (OSF) documents in order to “shed light on one of the most influential networks operating worldwide.” OSF is one of Soros’ networks of organizations."

George Soros’ Open Society Foundation unmasked in a major leak  8/17/2016 Saker: Saker is an alt right site, pro-Trump.

A Soros Plan, a Marginalized Israel  8/16/2016 Bloomberg: "After the election of Barack Obama in 2009, the George Soros organization saw an opportunity to weaken the pro-Israel lobby's influence in Washington. So his Open Society Foundations began an ambitious project in 2009 to persuade Europe and the U.S. to "hold Israel accountable" for violations of international law."

DC Leaks: Little Known Site Dumps Data On George Soros  8/13/2016 Risk Based Security: "In the leak there were 113 files about the Open Society Foundation, which is the organization that George Soros runs. In August, on their Twitter account they highlighted a specific part of the documents which said “Check George Soros’s OSF plans to counter Russian policy and traditional values”."

Does a BEAR Leak in the Woods?  8/12/2016 ThreatConnect: "ThreatConnect Identifies DCLeaks As Another Russian-backed Influence Outlet"

How Carnaval Showcases Brazil’s Racist Drug Policy  2/29/2016 Open Society Foundations: "Though Salvador’s population is 80 percent black, the carnavaleros dancing down the cordoned-off avenues are mostly white, protected from the masses by largely black, rope-holding sentinels. Bleachers packed with white spectators are defended by still more black security guards. Police patrol the crowds, demonstrating radically different attitudes toward the carousers depending on the color of their skin. It’s black Brazilians’ unequal status made manifest in a week-long party — a reality all the more maddening given the Afro-Brazilian origins of both Carnaval and Salvador."

Soros aggression abroad exposed for all to see by his henchmen  4/23/2014 Wayne Madsen/Intrepid Report: "Soros’s operatives like the anti-Russia Richter and daughter Andrea Soros Colombel, the founder of the anti-China Trace and Tsadra Foundations, act as the pre-war agitators for later U.S. military aggression."

How Soros and his friends are forestalling popular uprisings by controlling them  9/17/2011 Wayne Madsen/Deep Politics Forum: "From sources inside the non-governmental organization (NGO) community, WMR has been informed that George Soros's "themed revolution" operations are now on the streets in America. Hoping to steer and influence popular outrage over President Obama's and the GOP's bailout of Wall Street billionaires and the steady whittling away of government services, including Social Security, Medicare, and the Postal Service, the Soros-funded "democracy" operations are working hand-in-glove with the CIA-influenced National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and its Republican and Democratic subsidiaries, as well as Democratic Party political operatives. Also funding the "democracy" operations is the CIA-funded U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)."

Soros: In revolutionary times the impossible becomes possible  11/4/2009 CNN: "I set up my first foundation in Hungary in 1984. The idea behind it was simple. The state dogma, promoted by the ruling communists, was false and by providing an alternative we could expose its falsehood. Accordingly we supported every cultural initiative that was not an expression of the established dogma."

Soros's pro-junta "colored revolution" in Honduras  8/4/2009 Milfuegos: "Soros and NED funds have been intermingled in support of the Honduran junta under the ruse of "preserving the rule of law" in Honduras, which is code for supporting the right-wing junta. One of the cover projects is called Civic Participation and Democratic Planning. In Honduras, OSI is reported to use "local researchers" for its "projects." Similarly, such intermingled funds are used to destabilize Hugo Chavez's government in Venezuela under the guise of combating "anti-Semitism" in that country."

Re: Guidance: Exxon and Venezuela  2/13/2008 Wikileaks: "Lots of US funding... I don't have specifics, but I did talk to some of the people who lobby for them to get funding (like Mike McFaul over at the Hoover Institute). US AID is involved closely. Also, Otpor (the organization that brought down Milosevic and that spawned Canvas) was funded by Freedom House, the International Republican Institute, National Endowment for Democracy, Open Society Institute, USAID and the United States Institute of Peace, among others. Since Canvas is basically the same people as Otpor, I am sure they have the same avenues of $$$ open to them."

Jonathan Mowat: “A New Gladio in Action”  6/1/2005 Free Ukraine Now: "Much of the coup apparatus is the same that was used in the overthrow of President Fernando Marcos of the Philippines in 1986, the Tiananmen Square destabilization in 1989, and Vaclav Havel’s “Velvet revolution” in Czechoslovakia in 1989. As in these early operations, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and its primary arms, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI), played a central role. The NED was established by the Reagan Administration in 1983, to do overtly what the CIA had done covertly, in the words of one its legislative drafters, Allen Weinstein. The Cold War propaganda and operations center, Freedom House, now chaired by former CIA director James Woolsey, has also been involved, as were billionaire George Soros’ foundations, whose donations always dovetail those of the NED."

THE MONEY TRAP  9/1/2003 Open Society News: "Poster from anticorruption campaign conducted by the Serbia civil society organization, Otpor! (Resistance!). Text reads: “What is the price of the law? Let’s eradicate corruption— so the law will be the same for all. People’s Movement Resistance!”"

The Seed Money for Democracy  1/26/2001 LA Times: "But the multibillionaire philanthropist quietly played a key role in the dramatic overthrow last year of President Slobodan Milosevic. His Soros Foundations Network helped finance several pro-democracy groups, including the student organization Otpor, which spearheaded grass-roots resistance to the authoritarian Yugoslav leader. “We were here to support the civil sector--the people who were fighting against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic the past 10 years,” said Velimir Curgus of the Soros network’s Belgrade branch. “Most of our work was undercover.”"