Both Cuba and China have denied the accusations that the US media claimed possible Chinese espionage on the island.
While the United States talks about the issue with caution, although the Secretary of State himself, Anthony Blinken, said from the beginning that the Joe Biden administration was alerted to China’s interest in expanding its military presence for espionage work.
Bejucal is a peasant town, only 20 miles from Havana, and what is in a part of the town is a mystery to the locals. “It is not known. I know that it is military there. But you can’t get past it,” says a resident of the area.
In 2018, reports indicated the construction of an espionage antenna on this site, which is restricted access.
“To get in there you have to have access. That is, there is an overlap. You have to have a password”, alleges another resident of the area.
The United States suspects that this old base or any other similar one is used by the Chinese military to intercept electronic communications from a strategic point, due to its proximity to Florida.
“Indeed, based on the information we have, China did carry out an upgrade of its intelligence-gathering facilities in Cuba in 2019,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.
Behind the secret agreement, there could be a million-dollar agreement for an economy in crisis. However, the Havana regime denies the accusation.
“This is inconsistent and contradictory information from the United States,” a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said.
Silvia Iriondo of the organization Mar por Cuba, says that “apart from everything that a Chinese espionage base in Cuba implies for the security and stability of the United States, the sovereignty of the Cuban people is in danger.”
This is how it is considered by Cuban exile organizations, who asked the United States and the European Union to take seriously the intelligence team’s suspicions.
Orlando Gutiérrez of the Cuban Democratic Directorate assures that “by allying with China and Russia, those who are going to pay the price are the Cubans.”
And the images of that alliance are the meeting in Moscow between Vladimir Putin and the Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero. While Putin called Cuba “the island of freedom,” Marrero responded that he greatly admired it.
Meanwhile in Bejucal, for some they go unnoticed, but others do wonder if the antennas will be Cuban, Russian or Chinese. With the same question, the Secretary of State will arrive this Friday in the Chinese capital, because, as confirmed by the White House, suspicions of espionage will be one of the topics on his agenda.
This is a visit amid diplomatic tensions that was postponed after the downing of the Chinese surveillance balloon. It was also learned that the State Department had already privately expressed its concerns to Cuba on this matter, but no further details on the matter are known.
