U.S. funds for Cuba programs were partially freed

The Miami Herald reports: Sen. John Kerry officially lifted his “hold” on a $20 million for U.S. programs to promote democracy in Cuba yesterday after a day-long brouhaha over the funds and Havana’s possible release of Alan Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor jailed in Cuba.

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vernont still has a separate hold on part of the funds, but three Capitol Hill staffers said his concerns could be quickly resolved by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Kerry spokesman Frederick Jones, in an email to El Nuevo Herald yesterday afternoon, wrote that the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations “lifted the hold on the Cuba funds” after State and USAID officials agreed to a “thorough review of the programs.”

Launched in 1996, the Cuba programs are designed to help non-government groups such as dissidents, blacks and youths. Havana alleges they are part of a subversive effort to overthrow the communist government, and has outlawed any cooperation with them.

Kerry has been holding up the $20 million since April 1, complaining that the programs are ineffectiveand wasteful.

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