Fidel makes offer to Chinese government

0 Comments | Insight on the News, June 24, 2002 | by Kelly Patricia O'Meara, | Hans S. Nichols, | J. Michael Waller

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has offered the Soviet-built electronic intelligence-gathering base near Lourdes to the Chinese government for operations against the United States, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reports.

Last October, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would shut down the 26-square-mile facility, the largest outside the former Soviet Union. But Castro, citing Moscow's unpaid debts to his regime, reportedly seized some of the eavesdropping technology the Russians were readying to ship home. Only about two-dozen Russian intelligence officers and technicians remain at the base, where they are serving as caretakers until the two sides can reach an agreement on closure. Until recently, Moscow had about 1,000 personnel at the site.

The Izvestia report says, "Castro's offer to China to utilize Lourdes has been positively received by Beijing. Last autumn, a Chinese military delegation visited Cuba. The possibility of operating an electronic espionage center was discussed with Castro during the visit. According to sources, China responded positively in principle to the offer and, in fact, the Chinese have been offered a set of buildings in the Lourdes complex upon the final departure of the Russians."

KELLY PATRICIA O'MEARA IS AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, HANS S. NICHOLS IS A REPORTER AND J. MICHAEL WALLER IS A SENIOR WRITER FOR Insight.