Cuba

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In this Feb. 28, 2014 photo, Saimi Reyes Carmona speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Havana, Cuba. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest and undermine the country’s communist government. An Associated Press investigation found the program, The project, dubbed "ZunZuneo," slang for a Cuban hummingbird’s tweet, evaded Cuba’s Internet restrictions by creating a text-messaging service that could be used to organize political demonstrations. It drew in tens of thousands of subscribers who were unaware it was backed by the U.S. government. Carmona was a journalism student at the University of Havana when she stumbled onto ZunZuneo. She was intrigued by the service’s novelty, and the price. The advertisement said "free messages" so she signed up using her nickname, Saimita. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

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A book street vendor passes the time on her smart phone as she waits for customers in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest and undermine the country’s communist government according to an Associated Press investigation. The project, dubbed "ZunZuneo," slang for a Cuban hummingbird’s tweet, lasted more than two years and drew tens of thousands of subscribers and sought to evade Cuba’s stranglehold on the Internet with a primitive social media platform. First, the network would build a Cuban audience, mostly young people; then, the plan was to push them toward dissent. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

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In this Feb 28, 2014 photo, Ernesto Guerra speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Havana, Cuba. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest and undermine the country’s communist government. An Associated Press investigation found the program, The project, dubbed "ZunZuneo," slang for a Cuban hummingbird’s tweet, evaded Cuba’s Internet restrictions by creating a text-messaging service that could be used to organize political demonstrations. It drew in tens of thousands of subscribers who were unaware it was backed by the U.S. government. "How was I supposed to realize that?" Guerra asked. "It’s not like there was a sign saying ‘Welcome to ZunZuneo, brought to you by USAID.'" (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

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In this Feb. 28, 2014 photo, Saimi Reyes Carmona speaks during an interview with Associated Press in Havana, Cuba. The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest and undermine the country’s communist government. An Associated Press investigation found the program, The project, dubbed "ZunZuneo," slang for a Cuban hummingbird’s tweet, evaded Cuba’s Internet restrictions by creating a text-messaging service that could be used to organize political demonstrations. It drew in tens of thousands of subscribers who were unaware it was backed by the U.S. government. Carmona was a journalism student at the University of Havana when she stumbled onto ZunZuneo. She was intrigued by the service’s novelty, and the price. The advertisement said "free messages" so she signed up using her nickname, Saimita. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

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Late at night, you're bound to run into one of 12 types of email. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

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As he walks to a closed-door security briefing, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., comments on the creation of a secret “Cuban Twitter" — a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, Thursday, April 3, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Obama administration project, which lasted more than two years and drew tens of thousands of subscribers, sought to evade Cuba's stranglehold on the Internet with a primitive social media platform. First, the network would build a Cuban audience, mostly young people; then, the plan was to push them toward dissent. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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In this March 11, 2014 photo, a woman uses her cellphone as she sits on the Malecon in Havana, Cuba. The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks, The Associated Press has learned. The project, which lasted more than two years and drew tens of thousands of subscribers, sought to evade Cuba’s stranglehold on the Internet with a primitive social media platform. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

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Students gather behind a business looking for a Internet signal for their smart phones in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks, The Associated Press has learned. The project, which lasted more than two years and drew tens of thousands of subscribers, sought to evade Cuba’s stranglehold on the Internet with a primitive social media platform. Its users were neither aware it was created by a U.S. agency with ties to the State Department, nor that American contractors were gathering personal data about them. In 2012, the text messaging service vanished as mysteriously as it appeared. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)