US Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar requests the termination of the contract with a company that fired an employee for writing “Down with the dictatorship”
14ymedio, Havana, 22 May 2024 — The United States Embassy in Havana found itself embroiled in a controversy after paying a privately owned Cuban communications firm $31,530 (almost 11 million pesos at the current unofficial exchange rate) to develop information campaigns. The news was reported by website ADN Cuba, which claims that the company, MadWoman Agency, not only has ties to the Cuban regime but also fired one of its employees for posting anti-government slogans on social media.
ADN Cuba gained access to documents showing ties between the embassy and the company, which indicate that the work involved a total of thirteen separate projects. “Six were for migration-related messaging/campaigns, five for designs for strategic programs (Black History Month 2023 and 2024, Pride Month 2023, a musical exchange with local university students, and a film diplomacy program), one promoting bilingualism, and one Ukraine-related campaign in 2023.”
In February, a Cuban-American Republican congresswoman, María Elvira Salazar, sent a letter to U.S. president Joe Biden urging him to cancel the embassy’s contract with MadWoman and cease all communication with the company by April 1. Salazar also reminded the president of reports that, in September 2023, the company fired one of its employees, Álvaro Hernandez, for posting “down with the dictatorship” on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
María Elvira Salazar sent a letter to Joe Biden urging him to cancel the embassy’s contract with MadWoman
“This company, MadWoman, is clearly a front for the regime,” wrote Salazar. “It is completely unacceptable for our embassy to be working with a ’company’ that fires people for criticizing the Cuban dictatorship.”
In a written reply to Salazar this week, the White House Office of Legislative Affairs defended the embassy’s ties to MadWoman and stated that the