The Associated Press broke news this morning, April 3, 2014, that the U.S. Agency for International Development created a Twitter-like text messaging service in order to collect the phone numbers of Cuban citizens, without  informing them of the intent of the service, and then send out messages meant to undermine Cuba’s government and stir unrest on the island.

The act of collecting phone numbers from unknowing Cubans, without informing them of the intentions of this covert service, put those Cubans at considerable risk. This program gave tens of thousands of dollars in text fees to the Cuban government it was trying to undermine; and because it was concealed from Congress and the U.S. public, information about the wasteful and dangerous program was secret until it failed and disappeared.

This is not a way to conduct foreign policy! How many times do we have to go down the regime change route until we recognize that ending the embargo and freeing Americans to travel is the right way forward? Tell President Obama that it’s time to end this detrimental policy and to engage proactively with Cuba.