National Endowment for Democracy

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a Washington D.C-based non-profit funded by the U.S. national budget, boasts that it is "supporting freedom around the world."

Carl Gershman has been President since April 1984.

NED's website describes its mission as being "guided by the belief that freedom is a universal human aspiration that can be realized through the development of democratic institutions, procedures, and values." NED, which is publicly funded, "makes hundreds of grants each year to support pro-democracy groups in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East." [1]

NED funding mostly flows through the four foundations listed below; these in turn are active in influencing "civil society" and electoral processes around the world, in a process sometimes referred to as "cloak and ballot" operations. While NED remains accountable to the U.S. Congress and has to publish its disbursements, this doesn't apply to the organizations that it in turn finances.

Other groups undertaking similar activities around the world based in other developed countries include: the Australian Centre for Democratic Institutions (CDI); the Westminster Foundation; the Canadian International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development.

Founding

NED was founded during the Ronald Reagan presidency in 1982, and shaped by an initial study undertaken by the American Political Foundation. [2]

NED was created with a view to creating a broad base of political support for the organization. NED received funds from the U.S. government and distributes funds to four other organizations - one created by the Republican Party, another by the Democratic Party, one created by the business community and one by the "labor" movement (N.B.: the names of these organizations have changed over time):

• International Republican Institute (IRI)
• National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI)
• Chamber of Commerce's Center for Private Enterprise (CIPE)
• AFL-CIO's American Center for International Labor Solidarity

Although publicly funded, the activities of these four institutes are not reported to Congress. According to William Robinson, "NED employs a complex system of intermediaries in which operative aspects, control relationships, and funding trails are nearly impossible to follow and final recipients are difficult to identify."

In a March 2005 interview, former CIA officer Philip Agee discussed the thinking behind NED's establishment: (Dennis Bernstein, "Philip Agee, Former CIA agent speaks on Venezuela", Flashpoints, March 14, 2005)

During the late 1970s there was new thinking at the highest levels of the U.S. foreign policymakers, and they reconsidered whether these ugly murderous military dictatorships of the 1970s were really the best way to preserve U.S. interests in these countries – U.S. interests being defined traditionally as unfettered access to the primary products and raw materials, to the labor and to the markets of foreign countries. This new thinking led to the establishment in 1983 of the National Endowment for Democracy. They had chosen the German pattern in which the major political parties in Germany have foundations financed by the federal government. They did more or less the same thing with the establishment of the NED as a private foundation – there is really nothing private about it, and all its money comes from the Congress.

But then there were the other core foundations – this was the fundamental mechanism for promotion of democracy around the world, but in actual fact, when they say the promotion of democracy, or civic education, or fortifying civil society, what they really mean is using those euphemisms to cover funding to certain political forces and not to others. In other words, to fortify the opposition of undesirable foreign governments as in the case of Venezuela, or to support a government that is favorable to US interests and avoid of coming to power of forces that are not seen as favorable to US interests. This will be the case since the early 1990s in Nicaragua because all those programs that were started in order to assure the defeat of Daniel Ortega in 1990 continued, and they continued to make sure that Sandinista Front was not reelected again after their defeat in 1990 – and that has been the case. These programs go on in various different countries and they require quite a bit of research. ... I am sure that one could find these programs in Mexico, Colombia, Peru probably, Brazil, and other countries outside the Latin American region.

Involvement in Foreign Political Processes

NED regularly provides funding to opposition candidates in elections in countries other than the USA. According to Allen Weinstein, one of the founders of NED, "A lot of what we [NED] do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA" (Blum, Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower, 2000, p. 180).

NED has principally supported candidates with strong ties to the military and who support the rights of U.S. corporations to invest in those countries with minimal restriction. The NED has not supported candidates who oppose investments by U.S. corporations or who promise restrictions on investment rights of U.S. corporations.

Tom Engelhardt notes that "we've seen "the Rose Revolution" in Georgia, "the Orange Revolution" in Ukraine, and now "the Tulip Revolution" in Kyrgyzstan, all heavily financed and backed by groups funded by or connected to the U.S. government and/or the Bush administration." He then quotes Pepe Escobar of the Asia Times, who writes:

"The whole arsenal of US foundations -- National Endowment for Democracy, International Republic Institute, International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), Eurasia Foundation, Internews, among others -- which fueled opposition movements in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine, has also been deployed in Bishkek [Kyrgyzstan]... Practically everything that passes for civil society in Kyrgyzstan is financed by these US foundations, or by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). At least 170 non-governmental organizations charged with development or promotion of democracy have been created or sponsored by the Americans. The US State Department has operated its own independent printing house in Bishkek since 2002 -- which means printing at least 60 different titles, including a bunch of fiery opposition newspapers. USAID invested at least $2 million prior to the Kyrgyz elections -- quite something in a country where the average salary is $30 a month." [3]

Europe

In the 1980s, NED also funded political groups in some Western European countries. Investigations by French newspaper Liberation revealed that NED funded right-wing French political groups such as the National Inter-University Union (associated with violent groups).

During the 1990s, NED invested some money, at least about $9,000,000 [4], in Eastern Europe to support its vision of economics and the shock therapy program, leading to unemployment rates of about 20-40% in Eastern European countries. In Serbia, NED also meddled, by among other things funding Otpor - purportedly a non-violent youth shock group.

Nicaragua

Before the 1990 elections in Nicaragua, "President Bush (Sr.) spent $9 million in NED, including a $4 million contribution to the campaign of opposition presidential candidate Violeta Chamorro" (John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Toxic Sludge is Good for You, Common Courage Press, Monroe Maine,1995, page 166). Chamorro won.

In 1990, Michael Kozak was the US ambassador for Nicaragua; he is presently US ambassador to the Republic for Belarus where the US is busy "promoting democracy" at this very moment (2005), and in his own words:

"Our objective and to some degree methodology are the same. Then we worked with the Sandinista authorities, the Organisation of American States, other countries in the region, and the former Soviet Union to encourage a free, fair and transparent election."

"Twelve years ago, we advised the Nicaraguan opposition that the best way to pursue their political agenda was through participation in a peaceful electoral process; today we are giving the same advice to the opposition in Belarus." [5]

Haiti

In the 1990 elections in Haiti, NED supported Marc L. Bazin, providing a big fraction of his total U.S.-supported campaign funds of $36 million. Despite this funding, he only obtained 14% of the vote. Bazin had earlier been a World Bank official. He was seen by most Haitians as a "front man for military and business interests", and had been prime minister during military rule, for the presidential election. [6]

In February of 2004, Haitian political instability erupted thanks to NED's providing financial and technical support to anti-Aristide groups such as the Democratic Platform. The Democratic Platform denied supporting the armed resistance that killed scores of people and created many refugees, but organized many disruptive rallies that forced Aristide to scramble in order to maintain order. [7] Combined with a freeze on aid to Haiti, silence from the administration of President Bush (Jr.) and preparations for housing "15,000 Haitian boat people after they are interdicted on their way to Florida," the will of the United States appears to be regime change in Haiti. [8]

Venezuela

During 2001/2002, NED gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to U.S. and Venezuelan groups who organized protests and a coup d'etat against the elected president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. The coup happened on 11 April 2002. According to Wayne Madsen, a former intelligence officer with the U.S. navy, U.S. military attaches such as Lieutenant Colonel James Rogers had been in touch with members of the Venezuelan military to examine the possibility of a coup, while Roger Rondon claimed that both James Rogers and another US military officer, Ronald MacCammon, had been at the Fuerte Tiuna military headquarters with the coup leaders during the night of April 11-12. [9]

In 2003, Terry Allen wrote, "Using the same conduit Reagan used to fund the contras, the National Endowment for Democracy, the George W. Bush administration had funnelled money to Venezuelan 0pposition." [10] Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act show that $1 million of NED funding went to opposition groups determined to unseat Chavez. [11] [12]

During a March 2005 interview, former CIA officer and author of Inside the Company, Philip Agee, discussed the role of NED in Venezuela: (Dennis Bernstein, "Philip Agee, Former CIA agent speaks on Venezuela", Flashpoints, March 14, 2005)

The failed military coup attempt of April 2002 was about one million per year. That was National Endowment for Democracy money being channeled through the so-called core foundations of NED, which are the foundations of the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Democratic and Republican parties; there are four of these foundations. In the wake of this failed coup against Chavez, a decision was taken in Washington to expand dramatically the amount of money and the types of operations that have undertaken to that point. ...

Meanwhile the NED programs continued through the four core foundations, two of which have offices here in Caracas. ... So there are in fact three supposedly private offices opened here in Caracas through which all these millions of dollars are being funneled out to the Venezuelan opposition. And it turns out in the one contract between USAID and Development Alternatives Inc., USAID named the staff in the Caracas office, and there was a provision in the contract that not one of those people could be replaced unless they were named by USAID. So you have these three offices here, that are nothing more than extensions of the United States embassy, under the control of the embassy, of the State Department, of USAID in Washington, and posing as private firms (two foundations and one commercial consulting firm) while as a matter of fact they are no more than extensions, mechanisms and instruments of the US embassy.

In September 2005, the Miami Herald reported that NED approved a $107,000 grant to Sumate, "a Venezuelan citizens group whose leaders already face charges in Venezuela of using Washington's money to try to overthrow President Hugo Chavez's government. ... Súmate leaders could face prison sentences of up to 16 years if convicted of 'conspiracy to destroy the nation's republican form of government' by accepting $31,000 from NED in 2004. Súmate helped gather the signatures to force last year's recall referendum on Chávez, which the president won handily." The 2005 grant was to train up to 11,000 people on electoral rights, in small groups of 20 to 25. [13]

Revolving doorways

The close alignment of the NEDs activities with US foreign policy interests comes as no surprise, especially when you consider the revolving doorways between the US Government and the NED Board of Directors, some of the most notable of which include:

"...former US Secretaries of State, Henry Kissinger (Nixon) and Madeleine Albright (Clinton), former US Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci (Reagan), former National Security Council Chair Zbigniew Brzezinski (Carter), former NATO Supreme Allied Command in Europe, General Wesley K. Clark (Clinton), and the current head of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz (George W. Bush). Another notable, Bill Brock, served as a US Senator, a US Trade Representative, and US Secretary of Labor, and then Chairman of the Board of NED." [14]

Fostering "Free Press"

In late 2004, Adam Wild Aba wrote, "The new intelligence law also directs the State Department to promote a free press and the development of 'professional journalists' in the Muslim world. It says free press is a must as part of the overall public diplomacy strategy for the Middle East, according to the State Department’s statement. Under the law, the National Endowment for Democracy shall fund a private-sector group to establish a free-media network to help participants share information concerning development of free media in 'societies in transition'." [15]

NED also supports the nonprofit organization Internews which encourages media worldwide to "promote democracy". In 2004, Internews had a budget of $27 million, 80 percent of which came from the U.S. government.

Covert Embedded Reporters

Several articles about the political process in Haiti, Iraq, and the Palestinian-occupied territories have appeared in The New York Times, NPR, and other mainstream US media. The impression is given that the articles are from bona fide journalists, but it transpires that several of them are paid by the NED or its affilated organizations. The case of Regine Alexandre is particularly interesting. She wrote articles for the New York Times, AP, and commented on NPR. It transpires that she is on the NED payroll, and the NED confirmed this fact. However, when confronted with this information both the NYT and NPR failed to respond or take this seriously.

Source: Anthony Fenton and Dennis Bernstein, "AP reporter RéGINE is wearing two hats," Haiti Action.net, December 29, 2005.

Conducting Polls

NED (or its satellite organizations) has been active in conducting election exit polls in Serbia, Ukraine, Venezuela. These results were used on occasion to cast doubt on the actual election results, and thus deligitimize the winner of the election, and thus create pressure for an election re-run. [16]

In December 2004, the NED-association organization International Republican Institute conducted a survey in Iraq to determine the popular intent to vote. It found that 75% of Iraqis would opt to vote, thus lending some legitimacy to the elelectoral exercise. However, IRI didn't poll the key cities where the insurgency is strong, i.e., Fallujah, Ramadi and Mosul. [17] Such surveys lend legitimacy to so-called demonstration elections, and discredit those opposed to the elections.

Critiques and Support

On the right, NED has been criticized by the Cato Institute which issued a briefing which states, "NED, which also has a history of corruption and financial mismanagement, is superfluous at best and often destructive. Through the endowment, the American taxpayer has paid for special-interest groups to harass the duly elected governments of friendly countries, interfere in foreign elections, and foster the corruption of democratic movements." [18]

On its website, NED notes the criticism but responds that "over the years mainstream conservative activists have been among the most outspoken advocates on behalf of the Endowment. Endorsements of NED have been offered by the leadership of such stalwart conservative organizations as the Heritage Foundation and Empower America, and favorable editorials have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times and National Review." [19]

In his 2004 State of the Union Speech, Bush proposed doubling funding for NED and called for a greater focus on "its new work on the development of free elections, and free markets, free press, and free labor unions in the Middle East. And above all, we will finish the historic work of democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq, so those nations can light the way for others, and help transform a troubled part of the world." [20]

In March 2006, a number of activists (including amongst many others Howard Zinn, Gore Vidal, Michael Parenti and David Harvey) launched a new US project called the International Endowment for Democracy which critiques the activities of the NED.

Funding

NED receives an annual appropriation from the U.S. budget and, while a non-governmental organization, is subject to Congressional oversight. In the financial year to the end of September 2002 NED's budget was US$48.5 million. [21]

In December, 2005 PhD researcher Sreeram Chaulia noted that:

"...97 percent of NED’s funding comes from the US State Department (through USAID and before 1999, the USIA), the rest being allocations made by right-wing donors like the Bradley Foundation, the Whitehead Foundation and the Olin Foundation.(http://www.ned.org/publications/04annual/auditors04.pdf see)" [22]

Officers

• Vin Weber Chairman
• Thomas R. Donahue Vice-Chair
• Julie Finley Treasurer
• Matthew F. McHugh Secretary
• Carl Gershman President

Directors of the Board

• Frank Charles Carlucci III of the Carlyle Group
• Wesley Kanne Clark, retired General, presidential candidate, and board member of Stephens Group, a venture capital company
• Michael Novak of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
• Francis Fukuyama, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University
• Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN)

Affiliated Contractors

While most of NED's funding is directed towards the four affiliated core foundations, these in turn hire a variety of "consulting" companies. In the past, these have included:

• Albert Einstein Institution - involved in most Eastern European countries
• Delphi International Group - involved in Nicaragua
• Development Alternatives Inc. - involved in Venezuela
• IFES - involved in Haiti, Pakistan, Afghanistan
• Penn, Schoen and Berland - Specializes in surveys and "exit polls"; involved in most Eastern European countries and in Venezuela

Contact Information

National Endowment for Democracy

1101 Fifteenth Street, NW, Suite 700

Washington DC, 20005

Phone: 202 293-9072

Fax: 202/223-6042

Website: www.ned.org

SourceWatch Resources

• Center for the Dissemination of Economic Information
• Imperial terror in South America
• U.S. Agency for International Development

External Links

• http://www.venezuelafoia.info/
• Barbara Conry “Loose Cannon: The National Endowment for Democracy”, Cato Institute, Policy Briefing No. 27, November 8, 1993, (accessed November 18, 2003).
• John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Toxic Sludge is Good for You, Common Courage Press, Monroe Maine,1995, page 166.
• William Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, US Intervention and Hegemony, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. For a quick summary
• Bob Feldman, “The Nation's NED Connection-part 1”, QuestionsQuestions, circa 2001.
• Bob Feldman, “The Nation's NED Connection—part 2”, QuestionsQuestions, circa 2001.
• Harley Sorenson, NED's feel-good name belies its corrupt intent, SFGate.com, November 17, 2003.
• David Lowe, “Idea to Reality: A Brief History of the National Endowment for Democracy”, accessed November 18, 2003.
• Terry Allen, “Update by Author Terry Allen’, accessed November 18, 2003.
• Hugo Chavez Accuses U.S. of Spending Over $1 Million To Help Oust Him, Democracy Now!, March 4, 2004.
• Andrew Buncombe, "US revealed to be secretly funding opponents of Chavez", Independent (UK), March 13, 2004.
• Ken Silverstein And Carol J. Williams, "Chavez Camp Accuses U.S. of Pushing for His Recall," Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2004.
• Nadia Diuk, In Ukraine, Homegrown Freedom", Washington Post, December 4, 2004; Page A23. (Diuk is director, Europe and Eurasia, at the National Endowment for Democracy).
• Lisa Ashkenaz Croke and Brian Dominick, "Controversial U.S. Groups Operate Behind Scenes on Iraq Vote," The New Standard, December 13, 2004.
• Dennis Bernstein, "Philip Agee, Former CIA agent speaks on Venezuela", Flashpoints, March 14, 2005.
• Philip Agee, "The Nature of CIA Intervention in Venezuela" (interview conducted by Jonah Gindin), VenezuelaAnalysis, March 22, 2005.
• Pepe Escobar, "The Tulip Revolution takes root," Asia Times, March 26, 2005.
• Tom Engelhardt, "Drugs, Bases, and Jails: The Bush administration's Afghan Spring," Znet, April 05, 2005.
• Interview with William Robinson by Jonah Gindin, The Battle for Global Civil Society, June 13, 2005.
• Kim Scipes, "An Unholy Alliance: the AFL-CIO and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in Venezuela," Znet, July 10, 2005.
• Pablo Bachelet, "Citizens group to get U.S. funds," Miami Herald, September 13, 2005.
• Sreeram Chaulia, "Democratisation, Colour Revolutions and the Role of the NGOs: Catalysts or Saboteurs?," GlobalResearch.ca , December 25, 2005.
• Jonah Gindin, "Year of Living Democratically," ZNet Commentary, January 01, 2006.
• Interview with Anthony Fenton: "U.S. Government Channels Millions Through National Endowment for Democracy to Fund Anti-Lavalas Groups in Haiti," Democracy Now!, January 23, 2006.
• New website, International Endowment for Democracy, March, 2006.