American detained in Cuba is not a spy: US
By IANSFriday, January 8, 2010
Washington, Jan 8 (IANS/EFE) The US government has denied that one of its contractors who was arrested a month ago in Cuba has any connection to American intelligence agencies, as alleged by officials in Havana.
“Those comments are false,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Thursday. “This person is not associated with our intelligence services.”
Wednesday, Cuban parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon said that the unnamed detainee, an employee of a firm that does work for the US government, remained in custody and under investigation.
He described the person as “a gentleman hired by a firm that has contracts with the US secret services” as part of Washington’s “privatisation of war”.
Crowley said Thursday that the man was in Cuba “to encourage and help facilitate Cuban citizens being able to do what citizens in most other parts of the world get to do: connect with the Internet, be able to communicate, be able to offer and express their views on a variety of subjects.”
The detainee was arrested Dec 5 for allegedly distributing cell phones, laptops and other communications gear among dissidents on the communist-ruled island.
Dec 12, the US State Department issued a statement about the arrest in Cuba of an employee of Development Alternatives Inc, which, according to The New York Times, is a “kind of do-it-all development company that provides services to the United States government in countries around the world”.
–IANS/EFE
