Daughter of Cuban Intelligence Chief Receives USAID Funding for Cooperative Studies

Camila Piñeiro Harnecker, a professor at the University of Havana and a prominent expert in cooperative economics and Cuban socialism, was indirectly funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2022 through an organization where she was employed. This revelation has sparked a wave of reactions, due to the historical figure of her father, Manuel Piñeiro Losada, known as ‘Barbarroja’, who was the head of Cuban intelligence and a promoter of guerrilla and communist movements in Latin America.

U.S. analyst J. Michael Waller from the Center for Security Policy highlighted on his X account (formerly Twitter) that USAID financed an entity where Piñeiro Harnecker worked, suggesting a potential conflict of interest. Meanwhile, another social media user, Stephen Richardson, emphasized that this funding raises questions about U.S. influence in Cuba's ideological and economic sphere, given that Piñeiro Harnecker is an advocate for cooperative models as part of a renewed socialism on the island.

A Complex Political and Media Connection

Beyond her academic career, Piñeiro Harnecker's profile has stirred controversy due to her marriage to Nick Miroff, a reporter covering the Department of Homeland Security for The Washington Post, who was stationed in Havana from 2010 to 2017 as a Latin America correspondent. This connection has fueled speculation about a possible intersection between U.S. foreign policy and the media portrayal of Cuban socialism. Her association with a staff member of a highly influential Washington-based media outlet has ignited a debate about the ties between power structures and the narrative on Cuba in the international press.

Economic Thought and Socialist Model

Piñeiro Harnecker has been among the most influential voices in the debate on the evolution of Cuban socialism, as evidenced by her publications on the Rebelión portal, which aligns with the Cuban regime. In her book ‘Rethinking Cuban Socialism: Proposals for a Democratic and Cooperative Economy’, the academic argued that economic liberalization should not mean abandoning socialist principles but rather an opportunity to democratize production through self-management and participatory planning.

For the economist, the key to Cuba's future model lies not in an indiscriminate market opening but in building an economy based on cooperatives and worker participation in economic decision-making. In this context, the controversy regarding USAID funding has raised questions about whether Piñeiro Harnecker's involvement in U.S.-supported projects represents an ideological contradiction or a pragmatic strategy to access resources for her cooperative studies.

Political and Academic Implications

USAID funding has been a recurrent topic in Cuban political debate, attracting the Trump administration's attention. Historically, the Cuban regime has rejected cooperation from this agency, accusing it of interference and destabilization. However, the involvement of Cuban academics in projects funded by this organization suggests a partial, controlled, and concealed openness to international cooperation in specific areas.

Piñeiro Harnecker's case highlights the complexities and contradictions within the debate on socialism in Cuba. Her work represents one of the most reformist lines within Cuban officialdom, proposing a model based on self-management and economic decentralization, without abandoning fundamental socialist principles. Meanwhile, the revelation of her connection with funds from a U.S. agency has opened a new chapter in the intricate history of Cuba-U.S. relations.

Privatization of Cooperatives and Its Impact on the Cuban Economic Model

In an analysis published in 2023, Piñeiro Harnecker criticized the transformation of Cuban cooperatives into private microenterprises as a serious and urgent issue. According to the expert, this phenomenon not only weakens the cooperative economy on the island but also represents a covert privatization process that could increase unemployment and economic inequality.

Piñeiro Harnecker argued that the conversion of successful cooperatives into private businesses resulted from legal loopholes and the absence of a General Cooperative Law in Cuba. This legal gap has allowed private interests to take over collective means of production, leaving cooperative workers unprotected. She warned that without government action to halt this trend, many cooperatives could be absorbed by private actors, further entrenching an unequal economic model.

For the economist, the solution lies in reforming the legal framework to prevent the arbitrary dissolution of cooperatives and strengthen their role in the Cuban economy as a sustainable alternative to the state or purely private model.

Director Role at NCBA CLUSA

Camila Piñeiro Harnecker is the Director of the Cooperative and Producer Organization Strengthening Area at NCBA CLUSA. She joined NCBA CLUSA in June 2019 as a technical specialist in cooperative development. Prior to that, she worked as a cooperative development consultant at Keystone Development Center and was a researcher at the Latin American and Latino Studies Center at American University, as well as at the University of California, Riverside.

From 2009 to 2017, she was a professor, researcher, and consultant at the Center for Cuban Economy Studies at the University of Havana. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Havana, an MBA from the same institution, and a master's degree in Sustainable Development from the University of California, Berkeley. Her work has focused on worker cooperatives, economic democracy, and the social and solidarity economy. She is the author of four books and numerous articles on these topics.

In June 2022, Cuban journalist in the United States Yosmany Mayeta Labrada confronted Piñeiro Harnecker when she attempted to discredit the 11J protesters by offering a version that portrayed them as aggressors and the police as victims. Mayeta Labrada told 'Barbarroja's' daughter that her anti-embargo lobbying benefits the Cuban regime rather than the people, and denied that the protester killed in La Güinera, Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, was attacking the police as she claimed. According to the independent media DDC, which reported that Piñeiro Harnecker lived in the United States, the daughter of the famous regime spy stated that the protester killed by Lieutenant Yoennis Pelegrín Hernández was attacking officers "with a machete" to kill them and that the opposition was exaggerating the incident.