China has reportedly reached a secret agreement with Cuba to construct an electronic eavesdropping facility in the country, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The facility, which will be located roughly 100 miles from Florida, will enable China to intercept electronic communications throughout the southeastern United States, including those from military bases and ship traffic. The deal is said to involve several billion dollars in payment to cash-strapped Cuba.
The new facility will be China’s closest and most advantageous location for electronic eavesdropping on the United States, replacing the Soviet Union’s massive signals-intelligence site at Lourdes in Cuba, which operated from 1962 to 2002. The Lourdes site was the largest “SIGINT” site the Soviets operated outside the Soviet Union, occupying 28 square miles and employing over 1,000 Russians. The new Chinese facility is expected to be operated jointly by Cuban intelligence, several Chinese spy agencies and elements of the People’s Liberation Army.
The deal is significant as it reveals China’s desire to replace the USSR as the main antagonist of the United States and underscores the Obama and Biden administrations’ failure to improve relations with Cuba. Despite the administration’s efforts to pull closer to Havana, the Cuban regime has responded by aligning itself more closely with China. At home, Cuba has seen a draconian crackdown on dissent, and the new facility is likely to further exacerbate the country’s political environment.
