Washington Has Used USAID to Destabilize Governments Around the World
USAID tents used by AlQaeda in Syria. X/ @Partisangirl
February 3, 2025 Hour: 10:21 am
Since its founding in 1961, U.S. governments have used USAID as a tool to facilitate regime change operations in Latin America.
On Monday, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) notified its employees via email that its headquarters in Washington, D.C., will remain closed and that staff must work remotely.
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Since its founding in 1961, U.S. governments have used USAID as a tool to facilitate regime change operations in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, and former Soviet states such as Ukraine and Georgia.
Currently, however, USAID is experiencing a crisis that could be the prelude to its formal dissolution. In addition to freezing resources allocated to international cooperation, U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to strip USAID of its independence and place it under the control of the Department of State.
The Role of USAID
The U.S. agency has an annual budget of over $27 billion, which is supposedly intended to fulfill its institutional mission—namely, providing economic, humanitarian, and development assistance worldwide.
However, in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states, USAID’s activities have gone beyond providing humanitarian aid, serving as a tool to promote U.S. geopolitical interests, such as fostering regime change in legitimate governments and destabilizing administrations perceived as adversarial to U.S. influence.
This region has been a focal point for USAID due to its strategic importance in countering Russian influence and expanding Western political and economic interests.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the U.S. has sought to strengthen its influence in Eastern Europe by installing regimes that align with its interests. To this end, USAID funded programs aimed at integrating these nations into Western institutions such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).
USAID was also involved in promoting the 2004 Orange Revolution, supporting opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko until he secured the presidency of Ukraine.
To achieve this, it donated millions of dollars to NGOs, media outlets, and Ukrainian civil society groups that played a central role in mobilizing protests against governments that maintained good relations with Russia.
In the former Soviet republic of Georgia, USAID funded opposition groups and local media that supported the 2003 Rose Revolution, during which President Eduard Shevardnadze was overthrown and replaced by Mikheil Saakashvili, a pro-Western leader who closely aligned Georgia with NATO and the EU.
In Serbia, USAID provided funding to opposition groups and media outlets that played a key role in the 2000 ousting of then-President Slobodan Milošević.
USAID’s funding is not only directed at political opposition but also often supports media, educational programs, and NGOs that promote pro-Western narratives.
In Ukraine, it funded media projects such as Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL), which broadcast pro-Western and anti-Russian content.
It has done the same in Belarus, where it has supported opposition media and civil society groups challenging President Alexander Lukashenko, who has denounced NGOs as tools used by the West to destabilize his country.
USAID in Russia
Russia expelled USAID in 2012, bringing an end to two decades of U.S. influence operations disguised as “development aid” in the country.
During its presence in the Eurasian nation, USAID provided nearly $50 million annually to various opposition groups, including electoral monitoring organizations that directly challenged Kremlin policies.
It also supported the so-called independent electoral watchdog Golos, which was exposed for promoting anti-government narratives. USAID even backed and financially supported separatist movements.
Similar to its actions in Ukraine and Belarus, the U.S. agency funded allegedly “independent” Russian media to disseminate discussions in favor of the West.
The Kremlin denounced that USAID’s work followed the same regime-change strategy used in Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine.
For this reason, Russian authorities emphasized that foreign-backed NGOs were a Trojan horse used by the United States to strengthen its soft power.
To counter USAID’s actions and those of similar agencies, Vladimir Putin signed the Foreign Agents Law in 2012, which mandates that all NGOs receiving foreign funding must register as “foreign agents.”
He also expelled the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the Open Society Foundation, founded by billionaire George Soros, both of which were banned in 2015.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: ET – Sputnik
