Cuba Celebrates Raúl Castro After U.S. Accuses Him of Murder Reply

Cuban officials closed ranks around Mr. Castro, their embattled former president, who was indicted on murder charges in the downing of two civilian planes 30 years ago.

Former Cuban President Raúl Castro, center, at May Day celebrations in Havana earlier this month.Credit…Yamil Lage/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A day after Raúl Castro, the Cuban government’s revolutionary hero and former president, was indicted in Miami for murder, officials and state-run media closed ranks, turning to social media to project an image of a nation rallying around a revered elder statesman.

An avalanche of posts from state-run newspapers and high-ranking Cuban government officials showed photographs of Mr. Castro as a young soldier, greeting children, chuckling with his brother Fidel, waving the Cuban flag and meeting outdoors with teenagers. The posts included gushing messages about his honor and integrity.

“He’s like a father to me,” Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, said in a video posted on X. 

Mr. Castro, who turns 95 in two weeks, was indicted Wednesday on four counts of murder for the shooting down in 1996 of two civilian aircraft that were in international airspace just north of the island. The charges levied by the United States are a major late-life test for the former guerrilla who served as defense minister for nearly 50 years.

Although he is no longer head of state or leader of the armed forces, Mr. Castro remains a key figure in Cuba who wields considerable power.

While the indictment was likely aimed at forcing Cuba’s government to buckle under pressure from the Trump administration, the criminal charges against Mr. Castro could also serve as a rallying cry that makes the country’s officials dig in and resist any pressure from the United States, experts said.

Negotiations between the United States and Cuba appear to have yielded little fruit so far, and people who have met and studied Mr. Castro say threatening to drag him to Miami in handcuffs is unlikely to make his comrades capitulate.

Even Secretary of State Marco Rubio wasn’t optimistic.

“The president’s preference is always a negotiated agreement,” he told reporters Thursday. “That remains our preference with Cuba. I’m just being honest with you. The likelihood of that happening, given what we’re dealing with right now, is not high.”

Feature continues here: Murderers in 1996 Shootdown Indicted

Editor’s Note: Operation Scorpion was Havana’s codename for this intelligence operation, which intentionally led to the shootdown of two US-based humanitarian aircraft, resulting in four deaths.

Cuban Regime Prioritized Espionage Over Economic Crisis, Says FBI 1

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 by Edward Lopez

Josh Obsfeld, and agents Tiffany and Aliza. – Image © Video Screenshot/YouTube/FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed on Tuesday that even during the severe economic downturn of the 1990s, known as the Special Period, Cuba continued to fund its intelligence services. This was despite the collapse of its economy following the loss of Soviet subsidies. The FBI warns that the island’s current economic crisis will not alter this pattern.

This warning is highlighted in a video titled “Cuba: The Neighborhood Spy,” released today on YouTube by the FBI. The video features insights from Josh Obsfeld, Executive Director of External Engagement for the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, along with Special Agent Aliza and National Intelligence Senior Analyst Tiffany.

Analyst Tiffany noted, “During the 1990s, Cuba was experiencing the Special Period. They lost all their Soviet subsidies, yet their intelligence services remained funded.” Tiffany emphasized that despite ongoing economic challenges, the situation remains unchanged.

The video details how Cuba received training and resources from the Soviet Union and, later, from Russia. The regime prioritizes its intelligence services, allocating resources regardless of its economic situation.

Historical data supports this claim. From 1989 to 1993, Cuba’s Gross Domestic Product fell by nearly 35% following the Soviet collapse. However, the Dirección General de Inteligencia (DGI) and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) continued to operate at full capacity. Notably, in September 1998, the FBI dismantled the largest Cuban espionage network ever discovered in the United States, which had been active during the hardest years of the crisis.

The FBI’s warning is crucial as Cuba faces a crisis many liken to, or even worse than, the Special Period, with power outages lasting up to twenty hours a day and an economic contraction exceeding 11% over five years. A survey by the Food Monitor Program reveals that 80% of Cubans believe the current crisis is worse than that of the 1990s.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon reasserted that Cuba remains one of the strongest intelligence adversaries of the United States.

Feature continues here: FBI report

 

Failed Spy Thanks “True Believers” For Role In Temporarily Removing Cuba From State Sponsor of Terrorism List Reply

President of ICAP, Fernando Gonzalez, Thanks Solidarity Activists For Their Support in Demanding Cuba be Removed From U.S. Terror List

Ed Newman, Radio Havana Cuba

Havana, January 14 (RHC)– Fernando Gonzalez, one of the Cuban Five and now President of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), has expressed his appreciation to solidarity activists for their support in demanding Cuba be removed from U.S. terrorist list.

In a message on the social network X, Fernando said:

“For years, solidarity activists in the US and around the world have demanded the exclusion of Cuba from the “List of State Sponsors of Terrorism.”

“Today and always, we thank you for your continued denunciation of the serious damage caused to the Cuban people.”

Fernando5hICAP
@fernando5hicap

 

     Editor’s Note: Former Cuban spy Jesus Raul Perez Mendez directed the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) before his July 1983 defection. Subsequently, the New York Times reported that ICAP “arranges and supervises visits by Americans to Cuba and maintains contacts with native-born Cubans in other countries.” The Times also cited a State Department spokesman who claimed ICAP was suspected of having an intelligence collection mission in support of Cuba’s primary foreign intelligence service, once again known as the Directorate of Intelligence (DI).

      Former DI Officer Juan Reyes Alonso said ICAP is not a DI entity per se, but that it remains overwhelmingly influenced by the spy service. Reyes Alonso claimed ICAP was penetrated by a small cadre of bona fide DI officers who were aided by a large staff of agents (i.e., collaborators). As a result, roughly 90% of ICAP was thought to be DI-affiliated. Reyes-Alonso also noted that two officers from Department M-VIII (“Foreigners in Cuba”) are assigned to ICAP to help screen and assess members of the Venceremos Brigade (“VB”) and other sympathetic organizations.

 

Captain Jesus Perez-Mendez, Cuba, Cuban 5, Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Directorate of Intelligence (DI), Fernando González Llort, history, Intelligence Assessment, Intelligence Tradecraft, news, politics

Map Shows China’s Suspected Spy Bases in Cuba 3

By Micah McCartney, China News Reporter

A Washington, D.C.-based think tank last week released a report detailing facilities in Cuba that it says may be being used by China to gather signals intelligence (SIGINT) on the United States.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) analyzed nearly a dozen “sites of interest” in Cuba and last week released a report highlighting the four locations it deems most likely to be supporting China’s intelligence operations.

“Cuba’s proximity to the southern United States and the Caribbean makes it a prime location for collecting signals intelligence (SIGINT) on the region,” the authors wrote. SIGINT refers to intercepting and analyzing electronic signals, including phone calls, emails, and non-communications signals such as radar.

Three of the four sites are located in Cuba’s west, near the capital of Havana and about 100 miles from Key West, Florida, the U.S.’s southernmost point. Newsweek reached out by email to the Cuban Foreign Ministry with a written request for comment

Bejucal, the largest site covered in the report, temporarily hosted the Soviet nuclear warheads that led to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The site has long been suspected of hosting Chinese intelligence operations, with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) in 2016 calling it a “Chinese listening station.”

Though the exact functions of the equipment remain unclear, Cuban defectors have said that military intelligence may be gathering radio-electronic intelligence there. The satellite imagery revealed various types of antennas, including dish antennas capable of intercepting satellite communications.

The report said that the Bejucal site could also collect data on U.S. rocket launches from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Such intelligence could serve China, which has emerged as a major player in outer space.

In southeastern Cuba, El Salao features a large circularly disposed antenna array (CDAA) capable of detecting signals from 3,000 to 8,000 nautical miles away [3,452 to 9,206 miles]. The site is located a few miles from the Moncada Cement Plant, reportedly involved in the port expansion project in Santiago de Cuba, which received financing by China.

The CSIS report observed these facilities have undergone upgrades in recent years, even as Cuba’s economic crisis has deepened, pushing the country into closer ties with China. The report advised Washington and its regional partners to “carefully monitor China’s growing role in Cuba, harden sensitive communications, and push for transparency to reduce the likelihood of miscalculation.”

China’s embassy in Cuba on Sunday dismissed the report, calling it “pure fantasy” with “no factual basis.”

Feature with maps is here: China-Cuba Dangerous Liaisons

Russian, Chinese and Cuban Accounts Are Amplifying Hurricane Misinformation, U.S. Official Says Reply

Debris covers a closed street near the Swannanoa River in Asheville, North Carolina, on October 20, 2024, as clean-up efforts continue after Hurricane Helene devastated the area. 
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

By Andrea Shalal

Oct 28 (Reuters) – Russian and Chinese-linked influence actors and the Cuban government have been amplifying misinformation following two deadly U.S. hurricanes, including false claims that the U.S. was denying disaster relief claims, a U.S. official said on Monday.

The U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, shared the assessment following a declassification of certain U.S. intelligence information. They disclosed no direct link to the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.

The White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have spoken out about a huge spike in misinformation surrounding relief efforts following Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, that made it difficult for relief officials to do their jobs, and fueled criticism of the Biden administration.

Certain strands of that misinformation were repeated by some Republicans, drawing criticism from at least three congressional Republicans. But foreign actors also played a role in spreading the false claims, the U.S. official said.

The U.S. official said Russian hurricane-related misinformation on Telegram included an Oct. 10 image shared by state-owned news agency RIA that was likely generated by artificial intelligence to show a flooded Disney World.

That image was also shared by pro-Kremlin English-language accounts on an unnamed U.S. social media platform, the official said. Reuters this month reported that the fake Disney World images, which gained nearly half a million views worldwide, were clearly AI-generated.

Russian influence actors also used their social media accounts to spread other “provocative” hurricane-related content, such as an Oct. 9 post claiming the U.S. government was denying disaster relief claims, the U.S. official said.

Chinese-linked influence actors also circulated divisive hurricane-related material, including through a false social media posting that claimed U.S. spending on foreign conflicts had undermined support for disaster victims. “The post included an image probably generated by AI portraying the Vice President (Kamala Harris) overlooking flood damage next to a sign saying that all of the United States’ money went to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan,” the official said.

Feature continues here: Communist Nations Target US With Misinformation

China Expands Espionage Network in Cuba 1

BY JULIETA PELCASTRE/DIÁLOGO

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

China has expanded its global intelligence-gathering capabilities to Cuba, Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), indicated in its July 1 report, Secret Signals. By analyzing satellite imagery and open sources, CSIS was able to identify four sites on the island that could facilitate espionage activities.

One of the newest facilities is located at El Salao, near the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. The facility, for which construction began in 2021, appears to consists of antennas arranged in a configuration known as circularly disposed antenna array (CDAA) capable of intercepting signals over long distances, making it an ideal outpost for monitoring military activities in the Caribbean.

“Once operational, this CDAA will serve as a powerful tool for enhancing air and maritime domain awareness in the region, where the U.S. military and its international partners operate regularly,” the CSIS report indicates.

A key site is in Bejucal, near Havana, the largest active signal intelligence (SIGINT) site in Cuba that CSIS reviewed. This former military complex, which once housed Soviet nuclear weapons, has been modernized and equipped with state-of-the-art technology. In addition, CSIS identifies two other facilities at Wajay and Calabazar, both in the vicinity of the Cuban capital.

Wajay, which began as a small station in 2002, is experiencing exponential growth, now housing a complex of 12 antennas, the report says. In Calabazar, the CSIS noted the shift over time in the number, location, and orientation of antennas, likely due to the evolution of missions, and points out to a newest dish installed in 2016.

“These surveillance installations on Cuban territory are key in China’s global ambition,” Euclides Tapia, professor of International Relations at the University of Panama, told Diálogo on August 7. “Not only will they allow it [China] to gather intelligence on its adversaries, but they also seek to project its military might in the region.”

The implication that China operates spy bases on Cuban territory could generate prolonged instability, increase the risk of conflict, increase Chinese influence in Latin America, cause greater political fragmentation, and increase the risk of maritime incidents, Tapia said.

In addition, its proximity to the Panama Canal raises concerns about the security of this waterway, which is crucial for world trade. “China could use its presence in Cuba to influence Canal operations or even control it for its own purposes,” Tapia said. “It’s like they are squeezing the throat of the whole continent.”

Feature continues here: China’s Dangerous Liaisons

Bejucal, China, Cuba, Intelligence Target, Intelligence Trafficking, news, politics, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)

The Footprints of Cuban Intelligence in Venezuela 3

Cuban authorities have helped Venezuela for at least 15 years to redesign its armed forces and intelligence services, “imposing surveillance and fear.”

Cuban president Miguel Diaz Canel, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and Raul Castro. File photo

By Marleidy Muñoz and Raul Medina Orama (El Toque)

HAVANA TIMES – Nicolas Maduro proclaimed himself the winner of the July 28 presidential elections in Venezuela and aims to stay in the Miraflores Palace, at least until 2031. How much does Hugo Chavez’s heir owe to Cuban intelligence for the survival of the “Bolivarian Revolution”? How has the Havana regime helped Caracas quell dissent?

In recent weeks, to suppress protests in support of former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the Maduro regime has escalated its repression against politicians, electoral witnesses, and the protesting population. In this context, several reports alleging the presence of Cuban state agents in Venezuela have rekindled discussions about the Cuban government’s interference in the South American country.

According to reports from NGOs, press reports, and citizen testimonies, Cuban authorities have been helping Venezuela for at least 15 years to redesign its armed forces and intelligence services, “imposing surveillance and fear.”

After suffering his first electoral defeat in 2007, Chavez, who sought to expand his powers and eliminate presidential term limits through a constitutional referendum, continued to seek mechanisms to stay in power. Fidel Castro provided him with agents from Cuba’s Armed Forces and security, intelligence, and counterintelligence apparatus.

Cuban intelligence used “missions of various types as a mask and disguise, whether for cooperation in sports, health, or education,” said Luis Almagro, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), during the June 2020 event “Cuba in Venezuela, the Conquest of the 21st Century,” organized by the Center for Latin American Studies (CASLA Institute).

During his first 10 years in power, Chavez made 24 official visits to the island and repeatedly expressed being “fascinated” by Castro. In 2007, the Venezuelan leader declared that Cuba and Venezuela were “one nation” and that “at heart, we are one government.”

Article continues here: Havana Times

New Cuban Radar Site Near US Military Base Could Aid China Spying – Report Reply

CSIS calls site near Guantánamo a ‘powerful tool’ that will be able to monitor air and maritime activity of US military

Satellite images appear to show that Cuba is building a new radar site likely to be capable of spying on the US’s nearby Guantánamo Bay naval base, in the latest upgrade to the country’s surveillance capabilities long thought to be linked to China.

The base, under construction since 2021 but previously not publicly reported, is east of the city of Santiago de Cuba near the El Salao neighborhood, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a report published on Monday and later referenced by the Wall Street Journal.

Cuban vice foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio denied that Cuba was harboring Chinese military interests on the island.

“[The] Wall Street Journal persists in launching an intimidation campaign related to #Cuba. Without citing a verifiable source or showing evidence, it seeks to scare the public with tales about Chinese military bases that do not exist and no one has seen, including the US embassy in Cuba,” de Cossio said on social media.

Cuba’s proximity to the US and its southern military bases makes it a good location for China, Washington’s top strategic rival, to seek to collect signals intelligence. The CSIS called the new site a “powerful tool” that once operational will be able to monitor air and maritime activity of the US military.

The facility, known as a circularly disposed antenna array with a diameter of approximately 130-200 meters, could be able to track signals as far as 3,000-8,000 nautical miles (3,452-9,206 miles) away, the CSIS said.

“Access to such an outpost would provide China with a highly strategic vantage point near Naval Station Guantanamo Bay,” it said, referring to the key US military base 45 miles (73km) east of Santiago, Cuba’s second largest city.

Such arrays were used heavily during the cold war, but Russia and the US have since decommissioned most of their sites in favor of more advanced technology, the CSIS said. However, the thinktank said China has been actively building new such arrays, including on reef outposts in the South China Sea.

Feature continues here: Chinese SIGINT

Ex-intelligence Officer in Miami Says ‘Most Consequential’ Espionage Case in U.S. History ‘Isn’t Over’ 2

Convicted spy Manuel Rocha

Emilio T. Gonzalez on This Week In South Florida: ‘The Cuban government is a voracious collector and seller of intelligence’

MIAMI – A retired U.S. intelligence officer said on Sunday during “This Week In South Florida” that the “most consequential” espionage case in the history of the United States was still unfolding.

Emilio T. Gonzalez, also a retired colonel in the U.S. Army, said he knew Victor Manuel Rocha, who was at Federal Detention Center Miami on Sunday serving time in prison for secretly acting as a Cuban intelligence agent.

Gonzalez, a Cuban American who was a key advisor to former President George W. Bush, said Rocha, a Colombian-American former U.S. diplomat, was spying for Cuba for ideological reasons.

“The Cuban government is a voracious collector and seller of intelligence, so we don’t know whether any of the things he gave them caused harm until we do a damage assessment,” Gonzalez told TWISF Anchor Glenna Milberg adding that there was an ongoing federal “damage assessment.”

On Friday, at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami, U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom announced he had decided that Rocha, 73, did not have to pay restitution to anyone else after paying a fine. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan D. Stratton and John C. Shipley argued that the U.S. government was the only victim of Rocha’s crimes so “there are no other victims entitled to restitution.”

“The federal government says, ‘The only person that was harmed was the federal government therefore nobody else is entitled to restitution.’ Then they go back and say, ‘And oh! By the way, we fined him $500,000.’ Well, he owns $4 million worth of real estate alone, so a $500,000 fine is nothing,” Gonzalez said about Rocha’s assets in the U.S.

Bloom sentenced Rocha to 15 years in prison in April after he accepted his guilty plea to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General, and acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General.

“Ana Belén Montes spied for 17 years and she got 25 years; Manuel Rocha spied for 42 years and he is getting 12,” Gonzalez said referring to Rocha’s public Federal Bureau of Prisons profile listing his release as Sept. 10, 2036. Montes was released from prison on Jan. 6, 2023.

Feature Continues Here: Not Over

Editor’s Note: No disrespect intended, buy Rocha lacked the placement and access to the most sensitive classified information that Montes enjoyed. Additionally, he could not manipulate U.S. intelligence collection efforts as Montes did throughout her career. Many in the Intelligence Community still rank Montes within Cuba’s “Top 10.” Rocha did considerable damage, but he was a lesser threat than Montes.

 

TSA Gave Cuban Officials Secretive Tour of Miami Airport Security Areas, County Says 2

By Jesse Scheckner

The incident happened 5 years after reportedly leaked intelligence showed Cuban spies stole security information from the hub.

Visiting members of Cuba’s socialist regime got a special, TSA-led tour of Miami International Airport (MIA) security areas this week, and Miami-Dade officials said they were kept in the dark about it.

In a statement on social media, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she was “shocked” to learn the Transportation Security Administration invited a Cuban delegation to tour its MIA facilities, where they could view potential security vulnerabilities.

The tour happened Monday and was given without the county’s knowledge, Miami-Dade Aviation Department spokesperson Greg Chin told Florida Politics.

Levine Cava said her office has contacted the Department of Homeland Security “to understand how this decision was made” and to include the county in “any future decisions regarding access to MIA facilities to foreign government officials.”

The troubling incident occurred on the same day many celebrated Cuban Independence Day to commemorate the island nation’s separation from Spain and honor those who have fought to wrest its control from dictators since. Miami-Dade has the largest Cuban diaspora in the United States, with more than 1.2 million Cuban American residents.

The tour also happened just under five years after reportedly leaked Cuban intelligence showed that spies at MIA had stolen security codes and other confidential information.

Then-MIA Director Lester Sola downplayed the documents’ credibility. His predecessor, Emilio González, a retired colonel who once worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency, was less convinced of their inauthenticity and said they raised concerns, if authentic. Gonzalez’s predecessor, Jose Abreu, agreed, noting that “there are security-sensitive areas in the airport. There’s no question about that.”

Ralph Cutíe, MIA’s current Director, said Monday that as a Cuban American, the TSA’s actions “appalled” him.

CBS News’ “60 Minutes” last month featured a story on how espionage, including stealing and selling security secrets, is among Cuba’s most lucrative products and that spies working for the country are probably active today in numerous U.S. government agencies.

Miami-Dade Chief of Public Safety James Reyes, Levine Cava’s preferred candidate in the county’s crowded Sheriff’s race this year, said on X that he found it “offensive” as the son of a Cuban political prisoner that the TSA would allow Cuban officials into confidential MIA spaces.

Feature continues here: Secret Tour for Cuba