Havana/Washington. Cuba’s foreign ministry on Thursday dismissed reports it was building a wiretapping facility with China. Deputy Secretary of State Carlos Fernández de Cossío described such claims in a Wall Street Journal report as “completely false and unfounded”.
The newspaper previously reported, citing US officials, that the People’s Republic of China intends to set up a communications and electrical intelligence (Sigint) listening station on the socialist island to monitor communications in the Florida Straits and the southeastern United States. China would pay billions of dollars to the Cuban government to build the facility, the report said.
“Cuba rejects the presence of foreign military forces in Latin America and the Caribbean region,” said de Cossio, noting that Cuba signed an accord in January 2014 declaring Latin America and the Caribbean a zone of peace (America March 21, 2014). reported).
“We oppose any foreign military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean, including the numerous US military bases and troops, particularly the military base illegally occupying part of our territory in Guantánamo province,” de Cossio said.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also denied the allegation. “I saw that press report. It’s not accurate,” Kirby said on MSNBC news channel. Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder said, “We know, of course, that China and Cuba have some sort of relationship, but as far as the specific activities described in the press coverage go, that’s not accurate to our knowledge,” said ryder “We are not aware of China and Cuba developing any type of spy station,” Ryder said.
From 1962, during the Cold War, Cuba maintained an electrical listening station in the small town of Lourdes near Havana, which was operated by the Soviet Union. The facility closed in 2002.