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)
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Source: Voice of America
.