The US Government is admitting it created, funded, and implemented a Twitter-like social network specifically for users in Cuba, with which the US has at best cold relations.  But the US denies the purpose was to destabilize Cuba and to create a so-called "Cuban Spring".

But the admission opens up a Pandora’s Box regarding the agency that created the "ZunZuneo" network, The US Agency for International Development (US AID), whose stated mission is to deliver aid to the world's poor and vulnerable – not to set up secret operations against rival governments.

ZunZuneo was anything but transparent.  It was hidden from Cuban authorities through a Byzantine network of front companies in the notorious tax haven of the Cayman Islands.  The plan was to get people online with weather and sports updates.  But when a critical mass of hundreds of thousands of subscribers was achieved, it would commence sending out anti-government content, hoping to organize "Smart Mobs" – mass gatherings that were directed at threatening the Cuban government.

"There will be absolutely no mention of United States government involvement," read a 2010 memo from a company called Mobile Accord, one of the project’s contractors.  "This is absolutely crucial for the long-term success of the service and to ensure the success of the Mission."

The users were never told of the clandestine plot, but there never were enough of them to matter.  Only 40,000 subscribers signed on before the $1.6 Million in grant money ran out.  The project reportedly lasted from 2009-2012.

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Thursday confirmed ZunZuneo existed, but said it was "neither covert nor an intelligence program."  US AID said it was proud of the work it did in Cuba.