Global Security Newswire

A senior Cuban diplomat last week reaffirmed his nation's participation in the nonproliferation regime established under the Biological Weapons Convention, Prensa Latina reported (see GSN, Feb. 28, 2007).

There have been occasional claims in past years, notably from then-State Department arms control chief John Bolton, that Cuba has operated an offensive biological weapons program. Havana has rejected the allegations.

The Castro government in 1976 ratified the accord that prohibits the development, production or stockpiling of disease agents for nonpeaceful purposes.

Cuban delegate Juan Antonio Quintanilla said at a BWC meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, that his nation since 1992 has consistently shared relevant data as mandated under the pact. It has approved required legislation and established controls for any plant that could pose a threat to the BWC regime, he said.

The nation from 2007 to 2011 conducted roughly 44 checks of facilities to ensure they did not pose a proliferation threat, according to Quintanilla.

Cuba also offers a master's degree for biological security and provides annual training to inspection personnel for their duties through the National Center for Biological Security (Prensa Latina, July 19).