DATE=2/22/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CUBA SPY (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259459
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=MEXICO CITY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The government of President Fidel Castro in
Cuba has accused the United States of maintaining a
massive espionage operation in its Interests Section
in Havana. As V-O-A's Greg Flakus reports from Mexico
City, this comes on the heels of U-S charges against a
Cuban diplomat.
TEXT: In a statement issued by Cuba's ruling
Communist party, the Castro government accuses the
United States of operating a large spying operation
out of its seven-story Interests Section building on
the Havana waterfront. The Cuban statement alleges
that the building is full of sophisticated listening
devices and electronic spying equipment. It also says
that most of the people working there are agents of
the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, who the
Castro government claims work closely with so-called
"mercenaries." This is a reference to political
dissidents and independent journalists within Cuba.
There are so many spies in the U-S Interests section,
according to the communique, that if Cuba asked them
all to leave--in the words of the statement-- "there
would be few or none left."
As for the U-S allegations against the Cuban diplomat,
the statement challenges the United States to present
the charges in court. The Cuban government denies
ever having used its Interests section in Washington
for espionage.
The accusations against the Cuban diplomat came as the
result of an investigation of an official of the U-S
Immigration and Naturalization Service in Miami by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI. U-S
attorneys say the official, Mariano Faget, provided
information on Cuban immigrants to the diplomat in
Washington. The diplomat has been identified in press
reports as Jose Imperatori, Second Secretary for
Consular Affairs at the Cuban Interests Section. He
was seen last month in the company of the two
grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez when they went to Miami
to meet with the boy.
The Castro government claims the U-S allegations
against Mr. Imperatori are designed to undermine the
case for returning the boy to his father in Cuba. The
statement issued Tuesday notes the timing of the
accusation, coming just before the federal hearing in
Miami on the case. Elian Gonzalez has been living
with distant relatives in Miami ever since he was
found on a makeshift raft off the Florida coast on
November 25. His mother died in the attempt to reach
U-S soil and the Miami exile community wants him to be
granted asylum. The Cuban government, however, cites
international law in demanding that the father's
rights be upheld. (Signed)
NEB/GF/TVM/gm/latam
22-Feb-2000 17:44 PM EDT (22-Feb-2000 2244 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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