That we’re even considering allowing the communist Castro dictatorship, a State Sponsor of Terror at the service of China, Russia, and other enemies of the U.S., a direct internet connection is astounding. For decades, the Cuban regime has actively spied on the U.S., selling any intelligence it comes across to our enemies. There is no question a direct internet connection to the U.S. would give Cuba’s very advanced intelligence apparatus access to expand its intelligence gathering activities.
Nevertheless, it’s actually being considered, prompting U.S. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to call on the FCC to reject the plan (Nora Gamez Torres reports via Yahoo News):
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is urging the Federal Communications Commission to deny a request to extend a submarine internet cable connection between South Florida and Cuba, the first of its kind, because of the risk that the Cuban government could use it for intelligence purposes.
A committee led by the Justice Department comprising the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department has already recommended that the FCC deny the application, citing the counterintelligence threat posed by Cuba.
If approved, the cable extension would link North Miami Beach and Cojimar, a coastal town east of Havana, as part of ARCOS-1, a network of submarine cables connecting 15 countries, including the United States and several nations in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
“Establishing a U.S.-Cuba undersea cable connection would provide the repressive, communist regime in Cuba a significant conduit for espionage and intelligence activities against the U.S,” Rubio wrote in the letter addressed to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
Rubio also noted that the Cuban end of the system would be owned and operated by ETECSA, the Cuban state telecommunications company, so the Cuban government would be in a position to access U.S. data.
“This would be tantamount to handing over sensitive U.S. communications to a regime notorious for its extreme censorship and suppression of internet freedom,” he said.
It is obvious to any reasonable person this bid should be rejected, but considering the plethora of bad decisions made by the Biden administration over the past 2 years, the chance they’ll do something stupid and harmful to the U.S. yet once again is ever present.