China has reportedly reached a secret agreement with Cuba to build a major new spy station on the island, according to the Wall Street Journal. The eavesdropping facility, located roughly 100 miles from Florida, would allow Chinese intelligence services to intercept electronic communications throughout the southeastern U.S., where many military bases are located, and monitor U.S. ship traffic. The deal, which involves China paying Cuba several billion dollars, is a significant geopolitical challenge by Beijing to the U.S. The new facility, if established, will be China’s closest and most advantageous site for electronic eavesdropping on the United States.
During most of the Cold War, from 1962 to 2002, the Soviet Union operated a massive signals-intelligence site at Lourdes in Cuba. The site was less than 100 miles from the United States and gave the Soviets far better access to electronic communications in the United States than they could get anywhere else. It was the largest “SIGINT” site the Soviets operated anywhere outside the Soviet Union itself.
If China establishes the new facility, several Chinese spy agencies and elements of the People’s Liberation Army are expected to join Cuban intelligence to work at the site. The facility is likely to intercept transmissions from microwave towers in the United States, communication satellite downlinks, and a wide range of shortwave and high-frequency radio transmissions.
The symbolism of China replacing the USSR in spying on the United States from Cuba is revealing about the new Cold War the world is in. China now defines itself as the Soviets’ replacement and successor as the main antagonist of the United States. The revelation about China and Cuba shows very clearly how foolish the Obama and Biden administrations have been in their efforts to improve relations with Cuba.
The Cuban communist regime will of course take our money if we are offering any, but realignment out of the communist camp is not on offer. The repression in Cuba has gotten worse, not better, since Miguel Díaz-Canel succeeded Raúl Castro as president in 2018 and as head of the Communist Party in 2021. The political environment in Cuba is one of war. The communist regime will now receive what the Wall Street Journal reports is “several billion dollars” from China in payment for the SIGINT site. Cuba remains what it has been since Fidel Castro took power in 1959: a country ruled by a communist party that defines itself as an enemy of the United States and an ally of any other American antagonist. Now, China is replacing Russia as Cuba’s banker, and Cuba is replaying its old Cold War role in our new Cold War with China.
