Satellite images have uncovered the expansion of Cuba's electronic eavesdropping stations linked to China, raising alarms about Beijing's potential surveillance capabilities near the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Images captured from space reveal the expansion of Cuba’s electronic eavesdropping stations, which are believed to be linked to China. This includes new construction at a previously undisclosed site about 70 miles from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, according to a new report.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, conducted the study. This follows last year’s reporting by The Wall Street Journal, which indicated that China and Cuba were negotiating closer defense and intelligence ties, including a new joint military training facility and an eavesdropping facility on the island.
At the time, the Journal reported that China and Cuba were already jointly operating eavesdropping stations on the island, although U.S. officials did not disclose their locations. It remains unclear which, if any, of these are included in the sites covered by the CSIS report. Former officials and analysts express concern that China is leveraging Cuba’s proximity to the southeastern U.S. to intercept sensitive electronic communications from American military bases, space-launch facilities, and military and commercial shipping.
Leland Lazarus, an expert on China-Latin America relations at Florida International University, warned that Chinese facilities on the island “could also bolster China’s use of telecommunications networks to spy on U.S. citizens.”
The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
The CSIS report, based on years of satellite imagery analysis, found that Cuba has significantly upgraded and expanded its electronic spying facilities, identifying four sites: Bejucal, El Salao, Wajay, and Calabazar. While some of these sites, such as Bejucal, have previously been identified as listening posts, the satellite imagery provides new details about their capabilities, growth, and likely connections with China.
“These are active locations with an evolving mission set,” said Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow at CSIS and the report’s chief author. The report comes amid rising concerns about Great Power competition in the Caribbean and Latin America, where Washington has long sought to prevent rivals from gaining military and economic footholds.
China is also building a megaport on Peru’s Pacific coast. Meanwhile, Russia recently sent a nuclear-powered submarine and a frigate to Cuba’s Havana harbor.
In its annual threat assessment released in February, the U.S. intelligence community publicly acknowledged for the first time that China is pursuing military facilities in Cuba, without providing details. Chinese officials argue that the U.S. maintains a vast global network of military bases and listening posts. “The U.S. is no doubt the leading power in terms of eavesdropping and does not even spare its allies,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, wrote in a statement. “The U.S. side has repeatedly hyped up China’s establishment of spy bases or conducting surveillance activities in Cuba.”
Cuba’s embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
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