The most lunatic neocons who are demanding nuclear confrontation with Russia or China on any pretext must have taken heart in the July 1 opinion piece by former National Security Adviser John Bolton, published in The Hill. Bolton, who every year celebrates the anniversary of the April 17, 1961 Big of Pigs debacle, is now calling for the U.S. to overthrow—if not invade—Cuba, on grounds that it is hosting a Chinese espionage center designed to collect intelligence and spy on the United States. Since the Wall Street Journal published the original June 8 espionage story, it has morphed into more elaborate variations, including reports of a military training base involving Cuban and Chinese military personnel. Worth remembering in the modern-day U.S. is that Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder finally admitted last week that the U.S. knew that the notorious Chinese “spy balloon” was harmless and was not collecting intelligence.
Now, from the outset, Cuba has denied these allegations, calling them wild lies. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos de Cossio charged on June 8 that the Journal’s article was intended only to “justify the unprecedented tightening” of the 60-year-long economic blockade against Cuba and “destabilization and aggression against Cuba and deceiving public opinion in the United States and the world.” Cuba, he added, would never allow a foreign military base on its soil. Remember Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder admitting recently that the infamous Chinese balloon wasn’t collecting intelligence and was harmless.
