The Czechs were released after a month of diplomatic negotiations and an orchestrated admission that they had violated Cuban law. Once they were safe at home in Prague, international outrage erupted over Cuba's actions and its insistence that the U.S. government is lurking behind every criticism. But the Freedom House money that financed Pilip's trip had, in fact, come from the U.S. government, part of an annual grant program that since 1997 has funded efforts to support Cuban dissidents and prepare for a post-Castro transition. Now, proponents of a tougher line against Cuba are pressing the Bush administration to sharply increase the amount and scope of U.S. government assistance to the internal Cuban opposition. Critics of this approach argue that Cuba and 1980s Poland have little in common, and that the Cuba program has done little but fill the coffers of exile groups over the past four years.
Some critics are more succinct.
It is basically a covert aid program for Cuba. We don't even know who the final recipients are. The host government doesn't accept it. In return, they want him to use his executive powers to harden U.S. policy and hasten Castro's end. In addition to the expanded aid program, they have called in public statements and private meetings with administration officials for tighter travel restrictions and a reversal of the bilateral agreement under which Cuban migrants intercepted at sea are sent home.