The U.S. government reportedly tried to create unrest in Cuba to undermine its communist government by secretly creating a "Cuban Twitter." The project, seemingly a throwback to the U.S.'s Cold War anti-Castro tactics, had ties to the State Department's U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Associated Press's Desmond Butler, Jack Gillum, and Alberto Arce broke the exclusive story about the U.S. government's 21st century attempt to undermine the communist government of Cuba through a social media project on Thursday.

According to the AP's report, based on over 1,000 pages of documents and "multiple interviews with people involved in the project," a U.S. government official named Joe McSpedon worked with high-tech contractors from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Washington, and Denver to build a "Cuban Twitter" called ZunZuneo -- slang for a sound Cuban hummingbirds make.

The operation used text messaging to dodge Cuba's control over the internet in that country, and hid the social network's ties to the U.S. government and USAID through "a byzantine system of front companies using a Cayman Islands bank account," according to the AP. Reportedly the whole program was paid for and run by USAID.

The AP report goes on to describe ZunZuneo's sneaky modus operandi:

"Documents show the U.S. government planned to build a subscriber base through 'non-controversial content': news messages on soccer, music, and hurricane updates. Later when the network reached a critical mass of subscribers, perhaps hundreds of thousands, operators would introduce political content aimed at inspiring Cubans to organize 'smart mobs' - mass gatherings called at a moment's notice that might trigger a Cuban Spring, or, as one USAID document put it, 'renegotiate the balance of power between the state and society.'"

Cuban subscribers to the Twitter-like social media network -- of which there were more than 40,000 at its peak -- were never aware of the U.S. government's involvement or secret goals. The involvement of USAID was so secretive that contractors set up a ZunZuneo website that would allow Cubans to send their text messages for free and give feedback -- a website that featured "mock ad banners" to "give it the appearance of a commercial enterprise." The program ended in 2012, when USAID funding ran out after a failure of subcontracted companies to reach the number of Cuban subscribers wanted and service became spotty.

Check out the AP's exhaustive story for much more detail, chronicling the birth and demise of the "Cuban Twitter" service, ZunZuneo.

The AP reached out to officials at USAID who would not say who had approved the program or whether the Obama administration was aware of it. McSpedon, the highest-ranking U.S. official mentioned in the AP's documents, but who was only a mid-level manager, declined to comment. USAID's spokesperson Matt Herrick said that congressional investigators reviewed the agency's Cuba programs last year and found them to be legal:

"USAID is a development agency, not an intelligence agency, and we work all over the world to help people exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms, and give them access to tools to improve their lives and connect with the outside world," he said. "In the implementation has the government taken steps to be discreet in non-permissive environments? Of course," said Herrick. "That's how you protect the practitioners and the public. In hostile environments, we often take steps to protect the partners we're working with on the ground. This is not unique to Cuba."

Despite USAID's claims that the secretive Cuban Twitter project was intended more for development than intelligence or political aims, some are questioning whether these revelations will hurt USAID's image and ability to carry out its broad mission to promote human rights, development, women's rights, and democracy throughout the world.

For example, Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat from Vermont and Chairman of the Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on the State Department and foreign operations, appeared on NBC News to express his disapproval. When asked by Andrea Mitchell whether he was aware of the Cuban Twitter program, Leahy responded, "No, absolutely not. And if I had been, I would have said, 'What in heaven's name are you thinking? This is dumb, dumb, dumb."

He added, "If USAID says they briefed the people giving them money for this -- that's not so. I was not briefed. I know of nobody who was briefed. And I think most people would say, 'Are you out of your mind?'"

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