Cuba blames U.S. for pressuring Russia to close spy base--"special gift" to the Americans

HAVANA -- Cuba blamed the United States on Thursday for pressuring Russia to close a spy base which has monitored U.S. military moves and communications for decades.

Wednesday's announcement by Moscow that it will close the facility comes amid increased Russian cooperation with the United States and cooler relations with Cuba.

Created in 1964 after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the radar facility in Lourdes, 13 miles south of Havana, has remained an active example of Cuban-Soviet Cold War cooperation.

Fidel Castro's government called closure of the facility a "grave threat" to Cuba's security.

"The United States has relentlessly pressured Russia over the existence of this facility, despite the fact that the United States itself has maintained a military base in our territory for over 100 years now, against our people's will," the government said Thursday in Granma, the Communist Party daily, referring to the U.S. base on Guantanamo.

Moscow says most of its Russian personnel will the leave the base by January but a closure date has not been announced.

Last year, the U.S. Congress voted to restrict aid to Russia unless it closed the Lourdes facility. Russia had agreed to pay Cuba $200 million in goods as rent for the Lourdes facility. Russia used the base to monitor U.S. compliance with arms control agreements.

Surprised by Moscow's announcement to close the base, the Cuban government said when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Cuba in December, he talked of "developing and modernizing" the Lourdes facility. But months after the visit, Russia changed its position.

"This took the form of non-compliance with its financial obligations, resulting in an accumulation of unfulfilled payments, and unjustifiable and exaggerated demands for a reduction in the amount paid for services rendered," the Cuban government said in Granma.

The statement said Russia sought to pay less "despite the threefold increase in the price of oil, one of Russia's main exports, and an obvious improvement in the Russian economy."

Moscow also said it would close its Navy support base in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. The Cuban government said closing the Vietnam base was understandable since Vietnam was no longer threatened by the United States.

But Russia closing the base in Cuba would be a "special gift" to the Americans, it said.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin (L) waves to the press after he was met at Havana's Jose Marti Airport by Cuban leader Fidel Castro April 12, 2001. Jiang Zemina arrived to begin a three day state visit to Cuba. China yesterday released the 24 U.S. crew members of a surveillance plane which was forced to land on Chinese soil after a mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

[The move by Russia raised speculation that China would now take the lead in covert operations on the island. The Chinese are alleged to have built an identical eavesdropping facility in Cuba known as Bejucal. The 2-year-old post in Havana province is believed to be capable of both eavesdropping and ``cyber-warfare.'']--Source Cuba "forced" to sell biotechnology to Iran

[Based on the government's view of normality, Cuban officials have impugned the sanity of persistent Castro critics, arguing in effect that opposition to the regime is so abnormal that dissidents must be mentally ill. ''Such a conceptualization has enabled the Cuban government to redefine some ecidivist' political activity as a form of mental illness," wrote two veteran Cuba analysts, Charles J. Brown and Armando Lago, in the 1991 book The Politics of Psychiatry in Revolutionary Cuba, published by Freedom House.]--Source

[Troubling, too, are the regime's 40-year ties with the Middle East that include relations with fellow members of the terror blacklist: Libya, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Sudan. The friendships are no accident. As recently as this year, Fidel Castro saw fit to renew those relationships personally in a Mideast tour.

The importance of those relations was reflected in the rushed arrest of Ana Belén Montes, the Defense Intelligence Agency analyst accused of passing classified information to the communist country. The concern was that secrets passed to Cuba would be shared with unfriendly Mideast states, compromising U.S. anti-terror efforts. ] Terror's Servant

[ U.S. officials say the Bush administration will most likely keep Cuba on the U.S. list of ``terrorist states'' because it provides safe haven to Basque ETA terrorists, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and other insurgent groups and keeps close ties with radical Arab organizations.

If anything, the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the United States will effectively kill U.S. congressional moves to ease the U.S. embargo on the Castro regime.

A recent effort by some U.S. congress members to lift a U.S. travel ban on the island is doomed, because Congress is highly unlikely to vote for a measure that could provide economic relief to a country tied to terrorism, officials say.]-- Terrorism war to force Cuba, Venezuela to sit tight

Chinese President Jiang Zemin, left, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez exchange signed agreements at the theater Teresa Carreno in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 17, 2001. Jiang and Chavez signed accords on agriculture, taxation and energy, agreeing to build a fuel plant here for export to China. China also extended a credit line to support Venezuelan exports to China. (AP Photo/Fernando LLano)

[The Iraqi link is one aspect of Mr. Chávez's international involvements that the United States must not underestimate, with Cuba playing a central role. Since he took office in February 1999, Mr. Chávez has proclaimed his "identification" with the Cuban revolution. He visited Havana and entertained Mr. Castro in Caracas for five days last October. Mr. Castro treated Mr. Chávez as a son, an attitude seldom displayed by the Cuban leader toward any young people. During that same visit, Mr. Chávez granted Cuba large crude-oil price discounts, as he has done selectively elsewhere in the Caribbean, and agreed to help complete building a Cuban oil refinery.

Mr. Castro is Mr. Chávez's guide in the art of gently and gradually introducing authoritarian government to Venezuela. Mr. Chávez abolished the Senate and established a unicameral Parliament whose members support him. He has a new constitution, approved by a simple majority of voters in a referendum, that grants him considerable power.]-- Fidel, Saddam and Hugo --An improbable but growing friendship of three military revolutionaries

["We, Cuba and Venezuela, and other countries, through the circumstances of our political will, are called upon to be a spearhead, and summon other nations and governments,'' he said.] Chavez Says Ties Make Venezuela, Cuba 'One Team'

Good! Castro will now have to find someway to induce maybe 100,000 more tourists to spend $2000 each to make up for the loss. How will he do it? Turn more of his women into prostitutes?

Here a some of Casto's willing prostitutes:Congressional Progressive Caucus

Member/Position/District-- Address-- Phone-- Website (linked at site)

Dennis Kucinich (Chairman) (CHAIR, OHIO-10) 1730 LHOB 225-5871 WEBSITE
Barbara Lee (Vice Chair) (OFFICER, CALIFORNIA-09) 426 CHOB 225-2661 WEBSITE
Cynthia McKinney (OFFICER, GEORGIA-04) 124 CHOB 225-1605 WEBSITE
Major Owens (OFFICER, NEW YORK-11) 2309 RHOB 225-6231 WEBSITE
Bernie Sanders (OFFICER, VERMONT) 2135 RHOB 225-4115 WEBSITE
Paul Wellstone (OFFICER, MINNESOTA) 136 HSOB 224-5641
Neil Abercrombie (MEMBER, HAWAII-01) 1502 LHOB 225-2726 WEBSITE
Tammy Baldwin (MEMBER, WISCONSIN-02) 1022 LHOB 225-2906 WEBSITE
Xavier Becerra (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-30) 1119 LHOB 225-6235 WEBSITE
David Bonior (MEMBER, MICHIGAN-10) 2207 RHOB 225-2106 WEBSITE
Corrine Brown (MEMBER, FLORIDA-03) 2444 RHOB 225-0123 WEBSITE
Sherrod Brown (MEMBER, OHIO-13) 2438 CHOB 225-3401 WEBSITE
Michael Capuano (MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-08) 1232 LHOB 225-5111 WEBSITE
Julia Carson (MEMBER, INDIANA-10) 1339 LHOB 225-4011 WEBSITE
William "Lacy" Clay (MEMBER, MISSOURI-01) 415 CHOB 225-2406 WEBSITE
John Conyers (MEMBER, MICHIGAN-14) 2426 RHOB 225-5126 WEBSITE
Danny Davis (MEMBER, ILLINOIS-07) 1222 LHOB 225-5006 WEBSITE
Peter DeFazio (MEMBER, OREGON-04) 2134 RHOB 225-6416 WEBSITE
Rosa DeLauro (MEMBER, CONNECTICUT-03) 2262 CHOB 225-3661 WEBSITE
Lane Evans (MEMBER, ILLINOIS-17) 2211 RHOB 225-5905 WEBSITE
Eni Faleomavaega (MEMBER, AMERICAN SAMOA) 2422 RHOB 225-8577 WEBSITE
Sam Farr (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-17) 1221 LHOB 225-2861 WEBSITE
Chaka Fattah (MEMBER, PENNSYLVANIA-02) 1205 LHOB 225-4001 WEBSITE
Bob Filner (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-50) 2463 RHOB 225-8045 WEBSITE
Barney Frank (MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-04) 2252 RHOB 225-5931 WEBSITE
Luis Gutierrez (MEMBER, ILLINOIS-04) 2452 RHOB 225-8203 WEBSITE
Earl Hilliard (MEMBER, ALABAMA-07) 1314 LHOB 225-2665 WEBSITE
Maurice Hinchey (MEMBER, NEW YORK-26) 2431 RHOB 225-6335 WEBSITE
Jesse Jackson, Jr (MEMBER, ILLINOIS-02) 313 CHOB 225-0773
Sheila Jackson-Lee (MEMBER, TEXAS-18) 403 CHOB 225-3816 WEBSITE
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (MEMBER, OHIO-11) 1516 LHOB 225-7032 WEBSITE
Marcy Kaptur (MEMBER, OHIO-09) 2366 RHOB 225-4146 WEBSITE
Tom Lantos (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-12) 2217 RHOB 225-3531 WEBSITE
John Lewis (MEMBER, GEORGIA-05) 343 CHOB 225-3801 WEBSITE
Jim McDermott (MEMBER, WASHINGTON-07) 1035 LHOB 225-3106 WEBSITE
James P. McGovern (MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-03) 430 CHOB 225-6101 WEBSITE
Carrie Meek (MEMBER, FLORIDA-17) 2433 CHOB 225-4506 WEBSITE
George Miller (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-07) 2205 RHOB 225-2095 WEBSITE
Patsy Mink (MEMBER, HAWAII-02) 2210 RHOB 225-4906 WEBSITE
Jerry Nadler (MEMBER, NEW YORK-08) 2334 RHOB 225-5635 WEBSITE
Eleanor Holmes Norton (MEMBER, D.C.) 2136 LHOB 225-8050 WEBSITE
John Olver (MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-01) 1027 LHOB 225-5335 WEBSITE
Ed Pastor (MEMBER, ARIZONA-02) 2465 RHOB 225-4065 WEBSITE
Donald Payne (MEMBER, NEW JERSEY-10) 2209 RHOB 225-3436 WEBSITE
Nancy Pelosi (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-08) 2457 RHOB 225-4965 WEBSITE
Jan Schakowsky (MEMBER, ILLINOIS-09) 515 CHOB 225-2111 WEBSITE
Jose Serrano (MEMBER, NEW YORK-16) 2342 RHOB 225-4361 WEBSITE
Hilda Solis (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-31) 1641 LHOB 225-5464 WEBSITE
Pete Stark (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-13) 239 CHOB 225-5065 WEBSITE
Bennie Thompson (MEMBER, MISSISSIPPI-02) 2432 LHOB 225-5876 WEBSITE
John Tierney (MEMBER, MASSACHUSETTS-06) 120 CHOB 225-8020 WEBSITE
Tom Udall (MEMBER, NEW MEXICO-03) 502 CHOB 225-6190 WEBSITE
Nydia Velazquez (MEMBER, NEW YORK-12) 2241 RHOB 225-2361 WEBSITE
Maxine Waters (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-35) 2344 RHOB 225-2201 WEBSITE
Mel Watt (MEMBER, NORTH CAROLINA-12) 2236 LHOB 225-1510 WEBSITE
Henry Waxman (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-29) 2204 RHOB 225-3976 WEBSITE
Lynn Woolsey (MEMBER, CALIFORNIA-06) 2263 RHOB 225-5161 WEBSITE

Their stated agenda--(Bad enough)

Their real agenda

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