Castro And Cuba Dance With China

Castro And Cuba Dance With China
How Cuba-China Relations Will Affect The U.S.

Americans just do not get it!

Americans could have cared less about the al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, and Muslim terrorists prior to Sept. 11. Americans could care less about Chinese moves into Cuba, the Bahamas, Panama and a bevy of Latin American nations. The Chinese have not caused a Sept. 11 incident, but they are not our friends, despite our economic ties and U.S. attempts to develop a smooth relationship.

I have chronicled the Chinese moves in the region in several stories for NBC 6 and this Web site (nbc6.net).

Highlights include:

A Chinese-based company believed to be controlled by the People's Revolutionary Army operates the ports and both ends of the Panama Canal. The same company, Hutchinson Whampoa, operates the container port, cruise ship facilities, and a portion of the airport in Freeport, Bahamas.

China has made economic moves in Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela.

But the primary focus of my efforts have been the Chinese involvement with Cuba.

Cuba and Fidel Castro have been dancing with the Chinese for sometime. The wily Cuban dictator needs a replacement for the Soviet Union who shored up Cuba's economy and military until it went broke and dismantled. Military aid and trade has begun between the two nations and the Chinese have shown particular interest in Cuba as a listening post to spy on U.S. military and commercial communications.

The Chinese already operate listening posts near Santiago, in the eastern end of Cuba and near Havana. It is believed that the Havana facility monitors U.S. telephone and wireless communications.

Now there's a new and disturbing development in the China-Cuba saga.

Izvestia, the powerful Russian newspaper, reports that Cuba is refusing to allow Russia to retrieve its sophisticated eavesdropping equipment from the Lourdes spy base post that the Soviets built near Havana and abandoned earlier this year.

The Russians want their equipment back; however, according to Izvestia, the Cubans have denied permission to transport the gear back to Russia until Moscow pays up all past due rent on the facility.

Meanwhile, according to Dr. Manuel Cereijo, the Chinese have shown willingness to take over the Lourdes spy base. In fact, as soon as the final Russian maintenance team departs, the Chinese will have the option to take over the buildings.

Cereijo has written extensively on the issue. He lectures, he posts his thoughts on the Internet, and he often appears on Miami television programs. The former Florida International University engineering professor is frustrated by the inattention paid to the influence that the Chinese are gaining in Cuba and the Caribbean.

So, the Chinese quietly continue to move in our region. They could wind up with a massive "turn key" listening station. It is a story that gets little notice in mainstream American media. I am sure the Chinese want to keep it that way and most Americans could care less, for now.

Every time I see the Chinese threaten to invade The Republic of China (Taiwan), I wonder how things will line up in the Caribbean when we go to the aide of our long-time allies. It is then that Americans will care about the Chinese in our back yard.

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Hank Tester often reports on the Cuban exile community and the Florida Keys. Besides daily reports for NBC 6, he appears three times a week on WFFG, Keys Talk Radio, Marathon, Fla.