The United States on Monday accused Cuba of infiltrating the highest echelons of power in Washington amid growing pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump to end the island’s communist rule. A report by the U.S. State Department says Cuba’s decades-long espionage campaign was one of the longest and most destructive foreign intelligence infiltrations in American history.
According to the report, Cuba infiltrated the highest echelons of US power, recruited and trained generations of American activists, and supported an unprecedented wave of left-wing terrorism on American soil. While these accusations indicate an escalation of tensions between the countries, espionage between the United States and Cuba has long been known, and the document released Monday contains little new information.
Increased Cold War Rhetoric
The publication of the report comes as alarming Cold War–style warnings about left-wing extremism in the United States and the communist threat, which, according to Trump, must be cut out like cancer, have resurfaced. Donald Trump is promoting such rhetoric, repeatedly signaling that the Cuban government could be the next after Venezuela to come under US pressure.
In 2015, then-President Barack Obama sought to reach out to the Cuban government, hoping that a diplomatic approach would help improve relations after half a century of hostility. However, Trump quickly restored the hard line, again including Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
In June, Trump stated that the US would almost immediately take control of the Caribbean island, located about 145 km (90 miles) from Florida.
Source: NDTV Hindi
