Castro Teams "Cuba Threatens US" as Absurd

Cuban President Fidel Castro refuted allegations Thursday that his country is a menace to US national security, according to a senior U.S. official.

Castro said US Democratic Senator Ron Wilson advised Rear Admiral Thomas Wilson, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, to convey to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Cuba intends to launch technological warfare on U.S. computer networks.

Castro said the statement was absurd. He said although Cuba has achieved some credibility in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology, it has never used the knowledge to develop nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

"No Cuban organization would ever undertake the task of creating a computer virus, or launching cyber attacks," Castro said at a televised newscast from the western province of Pinar del Rio.

"It's crazy, it would be against our own interests," Castro said, citing a number of recent U.S. news reports speculating on the potential for a Cuban-based cyber-strike.

"They are making these things up to encourage the U.S. public to believe that Cuba represents a security threat to the United States," which Castro claims will be used to justify hard-line policies by U.S. President George W. Bush's administration.

Cuba and the United States do not have diplomatic relations and Washington has had an economic embargo in force on Havana for more than 40 years.






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