(Photo courtesy of the Office of Rep. Jeff Flake)

U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, R- Ariz.

The White House is defending a program to create a Twitter-like program in Cuba, saying it was not a covert operation but rather a development one. The project was overseen by the U.S. Agency for International Development which mainly does development work.

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake said it was probably ill-advised for that agency to be involved. He has advocated for normalizing relations with Cuba for years and said if the U.S. wants to influence Cuba like this program was trying to, it should let Americans travel there.

Dr. Marcela Vasquez-Leon, associate professor for anthropology at the University of Arizona, runs a summer study abroad program to Cuba. She agreed the program was not a good idea.