U.S. Democracy Programs under Fire as Fallout from U.S. Spy Arrest Continues http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6722

The arrest of Alan Gross in Cuba last December has proven to be a major headache for the Obama administration. Externally, the arrest jeopardized the notion that the Obama administration could hold the key to improving relations with its neighbor.

Internally, the Obama administration has embarked on a thorough review of the government's democracy promotion programs in Cuba, evaluating their effectiveness. The embarrassment over the detention of USAID employee Gross on spy charges, and his links to the U.S. government's controversial democracy promotion programs, has shed light on a murky area of U.S. politics and may have far-reaching consequences for the future of U.S.-Cuba relations.