The omnibus spending bill approved by the United States Congress last week includes $20 million USD for subversion against Cuba. Photo: The Washington

WASHINGTON.– The omnibus spending bill approved by the United States Congress last week, to fund the government until mid-2018, includes $20 million USD for subversion against Cuba and $600 million for border security with Mexico, which President Donald Trump plans to use to build a wall.

The amount of money allocated to promote regime change in Cuba, camouflaged under the euphemistic term “democracy programs,” contrasts with the massive cuts to the State Department and United States foreign aid to developing countries.

The funds for subversion were cut by Trump in the 2017 fiscal year, although the real amount dedicated to attacks on Cuba is much greater and comes from varied sources other than Congress.

The controversial Helms-Burton Act of 1996 established the obligation to grant money to these destabilizing programs against the island. Each administration since then has varied the exact figure, which ranges on average between 10 and 20 million dollars.

Mercenary groups, scholarships to promote false leadership among young Cubans and the dirty war on the Internet are financed with part of the money from Congress, which also benefits Florida-based groups that profit from the attacks on Cuba.

Another of the budget items approved in the midst of controversy was related to border security. Trump announced on Twitter this weekend that he had ordered the immediate construction of the controversial border wall with Mexico.

While the $600 million approved for border issues must cover other expenses, the President believes that he can use those funds to begin to fulfill his campaign promise.

However, experts note that $600 million dollars is a fraction of the total cost of the project envisaged by Trump, which could cost several billion dollars.

The U.S. President’s focus on the issue of the wall contrasts with the priority of many U.S. citizens. This weekend around 800,000 young people mobilized in several cities to demand a solution to the country’s gun problem, an issue that Trump has tried to dodge.

The so-called “March for Our Lives,” the largest youth demonstration in decades, filled Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, where surviving students of the Parkland massacre last month were among speakers.

Emma González, one of the surviving Stoneman Douglas School students, was moved to tears as she read the names of the victims. Her speech lasted six minutes and 20 seconds, the same time that the attack on her school lasted, according to Reuters.

Television networks showed the young protesters filling the streets of the United States in cities such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Minéapolis and New York.

The issue of gun control has forced many politicians up against the ropes, especially Senator for Florida, Marco Rubio, who maintains his support for the National Rifle Association, from which he receives millions of dollars, despite the massive support of his electorate for a change in legislation to make it more difficult to buy the guns with which such massacres are carried out.