Rubio: Ending USAID Funding for Anti-American NGOs Is Crushing the Left Across South America
Secretary of State Marco Rubio just confirmed what many suspected. The rapid collapse of leftist and communist influence across the Western Hemisphere is no accident. It tracks directly with the decision to gut USAID and put foreign aid under the State Department, where it has to serve American interests.
In a recent interview, the host noted how fast the shift has happened and floated the idea that cutting off NGO funding played a role. Rubio did not hedge.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence to some extent that pulling foreign aid into the State Department and away from the sort of independent do whatever they want organization, which was USAID, has had a direct impact on what’s happening in the region, absolutely,” Rubio said. “There are groups in that region that are clearly aligned with anti-American leftists. Now, they may be dressed up as an environmental NGO or a group that works for the indigenous population in these countries, but the reality of it is they are part of this anti-American global network of NGOs. And we were funding many of them. We were funding many of them.”
“Now, our foreign aid, we’re still the most generous country in the world in foreign aid. The difference is our foreign aid is now designed specifically to further the national interest. We are not going to pay for things that are bad for America. We are not going to give money to people or organizations that hate America.”
Rubio stopped short of claiming a formal study proves the link, but he left no doubt about his view: “Whether I can prove to you that’s had a direct impact on these elections, I’m not sure we’ve studied it, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence in my personal view.”