Did US International Aid Exec Resign Over Obama's Cuban Gambit?

Rajiv Shah
(Image: politico.com)

Rajiv Shah is not a household name, unless one follows Washington's careerist ladder. Mr. Shah currently runs the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is essentially our government's overseas humanitarian arm. On the day President Obama declared his intention to expand diplomatic relations with Cuba, the 41-year-old Indian-American decided to announce his departure from USAID in February, 2015. His departure, if a recent Foreign Policy piece by John Hudson is any indication, will be met with regret from both right-wing and left-wing American politicians and policy wonks.

Shah's timing is curious. Alan Gross, whose release was part of the Obama-Castro deal, was an USAID employee. For Shah, was Gross' freedom a feeling of "mission accomplished"?

In the background is the agency's dicey history with Cuba. During Shah's tenure, USAID was involved in an embarrassing attempt to "promote democracy" in Fidel Castro's homeland by "infiltrating" Cuba's hip-hop audience. There are other episodes that have cumulatively contributed to the Communist regime's mistrust of yanqui government representatives.

Tom Wheelock
(Image: Creative Associates International)

During Shah's USAID leadership, one of the enterprises contracted to provide "content" for USAID's efforts in Castro's workers paradise was Creative Associates International. (Fox News, in today's article on Shah's resignation, included the AP story about CAI and its role in Cuban projects.) The Washington-DC based firm is dedicated to humanitarian projects throughout the world. Some of its key leadership figures hail from Argentina. A notable exception is Senior VP Tom Wheelock, a West Point grad and former faculty member whose resume features a 2001-2003 stint as USAID's Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Project director. According to CAI's biographical information about Wheelock, he also served as a Middle East expert at the National Security Agency.

Clearly, Wheelock is no stranger to the inside political game. Neither is Shah. His pedigree prior to joining Team Obama included high-level positions at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and health care advising for Al Gore during the former VP's ill-fated presidential run against George W. Bush. While some have speculated Shah intends to join a private equity firm, the USAID head has not spoken about his plans. We don't even know if Shah plans to enjoy a Cuban cigar on his final day on the job.