JUST 100 miles from the coast of America, sprawling underground cities built by China are feared to be spying on US military plans for a Cuba invasion.
Nestled in the hills outside Havana, a facility bristling with antenna masts, radars and satellite dishes has been built up over decades – with millions of dollars still being poured into the spy stations with a 5,000-mile radius.
As many as 12 Chinese listening posts could be operating in Cuba, a report by Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), warns.
Ron MacMannon, a retired US Special Forces colonel, told The Sun: “The Chinese bases could be much more dangerous than the government has let on.”
Dr Alan Mendoza, from the Henry Jackson Society, told The Sun: “China has had a long standing kind of spy base outside Havana because it’s a very valuable place in order to spy on US ships, naval traffic, but also things like space launches.
“All of this makes sense from a Chinese perspective. If you’ve got a potential ally in the form of Cuba that sits so close to the US mainland, you’re going to take advantage of it.”
The suspected intelligence facility is equipped with dozens of high-powered antennas capable of spying on US military comms, according to Pentagon reports and satellite imagery examined by The Sun.
Chinese military-linked companies also operate Cuba’s “digital police state”, according to US intelligence analysts.
It enables Cuba’s regime to shut down the internet to quash protests and cut communications between opposition activists and the outside world.
Despite Cuba’s paralysed economy, crippled by shortages of petrol, food and medicines, vast amounts of money is being used to maintain the spy complexes.
The main fortress in the town of Bejucal has been expanded since Cuban armed forces chief Raul Castro held meetings with high level Chinese PLA bosses in 1999.
Former Cuban special forces officer Carlos Calvo told The Sun that he strongly believes the barracks built in Bejucal were “for the Chinese”.
Satellite images of Bejucal indicate tunnel entrances to underground bunkers – believed to be the HQ of the Radio-Electronic Brigade of Cuban military intelligence, whose officers have been trained by China and Russia.
Other pics show circular arrays of up to 30 antennas, which spy base operators can focus or “beamform” on specific military bases, warships or aircraft to “interfere” with radio and other signals.
Large 22ft radar dishes have recently been installed to track satellite burst transmissions and space launches from Florida’s Cape Canaveral.
US Army War College professor Evan Ellis told The Sun: “Military and other sensitive government communications are highly encrypted limiting the scope of the information Bejucal gathers.
“But picking up frequencies, intensity and direction of the signals traffic can reveal critical aspects of US plans, intentions and scale of military movements.”
While there is no official confirmation that PLA personnel are manning the stations, experts believe military installations built and used by China would also have to be partially staffed by Beijing’s intelligence officers.
Cuban military defectors also claim to have seen Chinese workers at several of the facilities.
Experts warn that Cuba’s electronic warfare facilities could be used to jam, blind or deceive US communications and radar defences in the southeast of America, where Centcom HQ direct global military operations.
Dr Mendoza added: “The fear is that not only is China gathering significant amounts of electronic intelligence on the US from the bases, but it is also able to potentially intervene should there ever be a conflict between the US and Cuba.
“So it does run the risk, of course, of creating a bit of a flashpoint between two superpowers.”
Intelligence gathered in Bejucal can also be shared with Russia and Iran – which have long standing military connections with Cuba’s regime.
Bejucal could also be on the “target menu” for airstrikes if Trump launches military operations against Cuba, according to Pentagon sources.
Professor Ellis says initial attacks would focus on Cuba’s main “command nodes”.
The spy complex could be disabled by taking out its electricity supply already under strain from Cuba’s energy shortage, state department sources said.
Solar parks have been recently installed inside the base for back up power in case of major blackouts.
Satellite images show that another electronic spy base appears to be under construction in the southwestern tip of Cuba, near the US naval base of Guantanamo.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16712791/cuba-spy-cities-china-trump/
