WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government masterminded the creation of a “Cuban Twitter” — a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks, The Associated Press has learned.

The Obama administration project, which lasted more than two years and drew tens of thousands of subscribers, sought to evade Cuba’s stranglehold on the Internet with a primitive social media platform. First, the network would build a Cuban audience, mostly young people; then, the plan was to push them toward dissent.

Recommended Stories

USAID administrator: Religious freedom essential to toppling repressive regimes in Latin America

Groups: US political effort in Cuba hurts aid work

Cut the oil, leak the secrets, feed the people: Trump’s blueprint to break Havana