National Endowment for Democracy

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Logo of the National Endowment for Democracy.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a front organization of the United States government that was founded in 1983 with the stated goal of promoting "democracy" abroad.[1][2][3] In practice, it works to stifle socialism and movements opposed to US imperialism abroad. It was created by Congress in 1983 on condition that the CIA not be involved in it, but at the last minute CIA director William Casey intervened to get this provision removed.[4][5] Allen Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishing the NED, declared in 1991: “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”[6]

To start, the NED funded the PRODEMCA (Project for Democracy in Central America), a group which supported the right-wing rebel group Contras against the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.[7] In 1989, it provided further financial support to opponents of the Sandinistas.[8] The NED also mounted a multi-level campaign to fight the leftist insurgency in the Philippines in the mid-1980s, funding a host of private organizations, including labor unions and the media.[9] At the beginning of the 2000s, the NED supported opposition groups against Hugo Chávez that led to a failed coup in Venezuela in 2002.[10][11] The organization was also very active in Ukraine in the lead-up to the overthrow of its government in 2013.[12]

Further reading

References

  1. Lowe, David. "History - Idea to Reality: NED at 30". National Endowment for Democracy.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. Richmond, Yale (2008). Practicing Public Diplomacy: A Cold War Odyssey. Berghahn Books. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-85745-013-5. NED was founded at the initiative of a small group of Washington insiders, who believed that the United States needed a "quango" (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization) to promote democracy and counter communist influence abroad...
  3. Otsuru-Kitagawa, Chieko (1998). "The Role of QUANGO in American Democratic Assistance". International Relations (119): 127–141. eISSN 1883-9916.
  4. Marcetic, Branko (7 Mar 2018). "Don't Mourn "Democracy Promotion"". Jacobin. Retrieved 26 Jul 2023.
  5. Franklin, Ben A. (29 May 1984). "Project Democracy Takes Wing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 Jun 2020. Retrieved 26 Jul 2023.
  6. Ignatius, David (22 Sep 1991). "Innocence Abroad: The New World of Spyless Coups". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 23 Jul 2020. Retrieved 26 Jul 2023.
  7. Human Rights in Nicaragua: 1985-1986, by Aryeh Neier, Jemera Rone, Juan E. Méndez, page 155
  8. McManus, Doyle (14 Oct 1989). "U.S. Fund Gives $433,000 to Opponents of Costa Rica Leader's Policies". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 8 Feb 2020. Retrieved 26 Jul 2023.
  9. San Francisco Examiner, July 21, 1985, p.1.[citation needed]
  10. Marquis, Christopher (25 Apr 2002). "U.S. Bankrolling Is Under Scrutiny for Ties to Chávez Ouster". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 Mar 2017. Retrieved 26 Jul 2023.
  11. Corn, David (18 Jul 2002). "Our Gang in Venezuela?". The Nation. Archived from the original on 5 Mar 2020. Retrieved 26 Jul 2023.
  12. Mearsheimer, John (18 Aug 2014). "Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West's Fault". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 26 Jul 2023.