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 east, 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.
Six miles north of Bejucal sits the Wajay site, which has, in recent years, expanded from a single antenna and a few structures to a complex facility with a dozen antennas.
This growth could suggest a sophisticated and evolving SIGINT mission, the authors noted. The site also features significant operational support, including a small solar farm—a valuable asset given Cuba’s frequent power outages.
Nearby, the Calabazar site contains multiple types of antennas—vertical, horizontal, and dish—and a solar farm larger than Wajay’s.
Unlike the other locations, Calabazar has not been publicly linked to Chinese intelligence, CSIS said. However, “unconfirmed sources from Cuban defectors” cited by the think tank suggest the facility could play a role in Cuba’s broader intelligence-collection efforts.
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 Foreign Ministry on Sunday dismissed the report, calling it “pure fantasy” with “no factual basis.”
“We firmly oppose this think tank’s irresponsible and repeated hype of the above-mentioned fake news,” the statement read.
The ministry also criticized U.S. hypocrisy on surveillance, saying: “Throwing dirty water on others cannot wash away one’s own stains. It is well known that the United States is a veritable ‘surveillance superpower.'”
The statement went on to denounce the U.S. for “illegally” occupying Guantánamo Bay and maintaining ineffective sanctions against Cuba for more than six decades.
The 1903 lease agreement for Guantánamo, where the U.S. has operated a naval base and detention center known for torture under the Bush administration, has long been contested by Havana as having been signed under duress.
China recently joined the overwhelming majority of countries in the United Nations General Assembly in calling for an end to U.S. sanctions on Cuba, whose top diplomat condemned them as “a flagrant, massive, and systematic violation of the human rights of our people.”
