Cuba, Terrorism, and Biotechnology

The Cuban government has in the past been known to directly support terrorist groups and, as well, nations that are or were supporters of terrorists. In addition, it has taken steps over its existence to acquire a powerful biotechnology infrastructure. Is it possible that Cuban biotechnology has been misused for the purpose of acquiring biological weapons? There certainly have been allegations made by high U.S. government officials to this effect. This entry addresses the relationships between Cuba, terrorism, and biotechnology. It has two sections. The first section considers Cuba's history of terrorist support and associations with nations that have been named by the United States as supporting terrorists, such as Iran, Libya, and Syria. Second, Cuba's powerful biotechnological capability is reviewed, as well as its potential for biological weapons acquisition. Keywords: biological warfare; Biological Weapons Convention; biotechnology; Fidel Castro; Center for Defense Information; Cuba; terrorism