Putin Denies Russia to Reopen Spy Base in Cuba

HAVANA TIMES — Russian President Vladimir Putin, has denied widespread reports that Russia and Cuba have agreed to reopen the Lourdes spying center dating back to the Soviet period, which was closed in 2001, reports Moscow’s RT news on Wednesday.

In a press conference held at the end of the BRICS summit in Brazil, Putin stressed that the issue of reopening the radio-electronic intelligence military base in Cuba has not been addressed.

Putin maintained that the base is no longer necessary for its intelligence gathering operations: “Russia is able to solve the tasks of its defense capability without renewing the Loudres center in Cuba,” notes RT.

The Cuban government and controlled press has not mentioned a word about any agreement on the Lourdes base or any new agreement regarding it.

The base was closed in 2001, when Moscow cut its military intelligence budget and to satisfy the request of the United States. For several decades this center, installed by the USSR in 1967 and located only 250 miles from the US coast, allowed the USSR and later Russia to intercept radio and telephone communications, and collect intelligence from what was considered its ‘potential enemy’.

The Lourdes base, notes RT, was the most powerful radio-electronic intelligence center of the USSR outside its national territory.