by Kevin Cohen
August 11, 2025
In May 2025, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a timely report titled “Beijing’s Air, Space, and Maritime Surveillance from Cuba: A Growing Threat to the Homeland.” The report confirmed China’s construction of a new signals intelligence facility near Santiago de Cuba, just 70 miles from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. The installation, equipped with a circularly disposed antenna array, is designed to intercept high-frequency communications and signals across vast distances, directly targeting U.S. military and diplomatic operations.
This revelation underscores the urgency of what is no longer theoretical: Cuba has become a multi-regime staging ground for surveillance, subversion, and regional disruption. China, Russia, and Iran are not simply building influence in the Caribbean — they are constructing real-time capabilities within reach of the U.S. mainland. Their combined presence suggests a new doctrine of proximity-based deterrence and hybrid warfare emerging just offshore.
Just 90 miles from Florida, Cuba is once again becoming a frontline concern for U.S. national security — not as a Cold War holdover, but as an active platform for adversaries. China, Russia, and Iran have each embedded themselves in Havana’s infrastructure, intelligence services, and foreign policy, forging a quiet but strategic alignment against the West.
Unsurprisingly, China’s presence is the most technologically advanced.
