Alarm Bells Ring as China Multiplies Spy bay Close to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Potential espionage bases suspected of being linked to China have been discovered in Cuba, one of which is near the US Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, according to a report from the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. This information originally comes from the analysis of satellite images obtained near the MAXAR contractor
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Satellite image of a SIGINT facility in Calabazar, Cuba, on April 6, 2024. (Picture source: CSIS/Hidden Reach/Maxar 2024)

CSIS analysts examined satellite images and open-source information and identified four 'active' sites in Cuba that they believe are capable of conducting electronic surveillance operations.

One of these is a previously unknown building located about 70 miles from the US Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, according to the report.

These four sites are among the most likely to support China's efforts to spy on the United States," it said. Last year, several media outlets – citing officials knowledgeable of sensitive intelligence – reported that China wanted to establish a spy base in Cuba.

Two anonymous US officials told Politico at the time that Beijing and Havana were negotiating the construction of a station about 100 miles off the coast of Florida, perhaps to gather information on the signals from military sites in that area.

Anonymous US officials also told the Wall Street Journal last year that China and Cuba had agreed in principle to a multi-billion dollar project to develop the base.

CNN and the New York Times also reported on the agreement and planned facilities. At the time, the Department of Defense and the White House had dismissed these reports. An anonymous US official also told the Associated Press last year that China has been operating in Cuba since at least 2019.

Chinese espionage bases in Cuba

CSIS analysts claim to have located four bases on the island of Cuba: at Bejucal, El Salao, Wajay, and Calabazar. CSIS provided satellite images of each site from March and April 2024, showing how they have undergone upgrades over the last decade.

Bejucal, located south of Havana and identified by CSIS as the largest active Cuban facility, has seen the construction of a new 'mysterious' radome that, according to CSIS, could include a radar or ELINT device.

In the meantime, at Wajay, a complex has 'gradually' expanded over the past two decades, from a single antenna and several small buildings in 2002 to 12 antennas of various sizes and orientations, significant operational and support facilities, and even a small solar farm, it said.

Calabazar, a small Cuban military complex, now has two visible antenna networks on poles and more than a dozen parabolic antennas of various sizes scattered in a closed area, the images suggest.

The number, position, and direction of the antennas have changed significantly, likely in response to changes in the site's mission, the report indicates.

CSIS analysts also discovered a new, previously unreported installation at El Salao, south of Cuba, near the US Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, a vital American military base in the region.

The alleged Chinese espionage bases in Cuba are multiplying, including one near a US naval base. 'These are active sites with a set of evolving missions,' Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow at the China Power Project at CSIS and the lead author of the report, told the Wall Street Journal.

A strategic location for espionage

Some of the systems believed to be installed in Cuba, including antennas, can collect intelligence by intercepting signals – a practice known in the defense community as signal intelligence, or SIGINT.

The capabilities and functions of these systems are determined by their size, quantity, orientation, and arrangement, according to the CSIS report.

The proximity of Cuba to the United States offers China a significant intelligence window that is inaccessible from Chinese territory, the CSIS report states. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon immediately responded to a request for comment. The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to make a statement.

Satellite image of a CDAA site in El Salao, Cuba, on March 2, 2024.. (Picture source: CSIS/Hidden Reach/Maxar 2024)