President Obama attends the Marine Barracks Evening Parade
U.S. President Barack Obama attends the Marine Barracks Evening Parade in Washington, June 27, 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

The U.S. government sent undercover agents to incite a political insurgency in Cuba. The programme, masterminded by the Obama administration, sent young South American people to Cuba. Health and other civic programmes were used to cover those people whose life was endangered due to the U.S. government's endeavour to provoke political outrage in the Caribbean country. Associated Press performed an investigation on this and came up with the discoveries.

U.S. President Barack Obama started the programme in October 2009. The U.S. Agency for International Development sent young people from Peru, Venezuela and Costa Rica to Cuba. The undercover agents were expected to travel around for building up a group of people who could be potential rebels against the Castro government. These people often posed as tourists while they moved around the country.

Cuba's relation with the United States deteriorated significantly since the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The communist revolution in the Caribbean was enough for the U.S. government to be circumspect against Fidel Castro's leadership. U.S.A has always maintained its disgust against communism all over the world. Even today, U.S.A does not have a formal diplomatic relation with the Castro government. U.S. companies are legally prohibited from doing business in Cuba.

Obama's efforts to dethrone Raúl Castro went astray as his undercover agents turned out to be "incompetent." The young activists were almost blown off their cover. According to one of the young people who were sent to strike a revolution in Cuba, they were sent to Cuba on the basis of a seminar conducted for half an hour. The seminar was about how to dodge Cuban intelligence. He said that there was no backup plan for the inexperienced agents in case they got caught.

"Remember that the Cuban government prefers to avoid negative media reports abroad, so a beaten foreigner is not convenient for them," read a U.S. memo for the agents, "Although there is never total certainty, trust that the authorities will not try to harm you physically, only frighten you."

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au