STAT 
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/26 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707050002-2 
SPOTLIGHT 
23 March 1981 
ra 
America, en days. on 
laboratory: Whee the. op: 
portunity to 
| play their’ trade. was. unlimited. A 
~ RConir) : to teste! 
*fi oe 
devices nay have‘ installed* “indersea 
intelligence-gathering* ‘electronics’ in ~Ametican Sea. Janes” Off _the Virgin. 
Islands.” ~ se 
potty 
: 
3 
Searwely tevasal ecig cack swe 
2 The, ‘SPOT IGHT has earne from a a. free Cuban source that 13 .Red- 
Cuba arrived’ on, the American: island of St. Croix about 6 pm on February~ 
23. -The:Cuban. aircraft had departed from poe Cuba. around. 2 
15 pm. 
the same day,-a free Cuban source said.o- sori sd: denad.o: tae: for a0 
- Four divers. Teportedly among. the 13- Cubans ‘were iG spend seven: ‘days: 
sabmerged 
i in- ‘the: :U.S.-owned undersea laboratory called the ‘‘Hydro- Lab 
Habitats2?:The: remaining Cubans ‘were to act as a support team on the sur- 
face. ‘The'Hydro:Labii is located in 60 feet of water near the rim of.a protected’ 
cove; ‘about 15: minutes’ ‘out by: motorboat from the, mouth of Salt es 
where the Hydro-Lat S land base is ‘situated. yt wee eo 
ef pee 
“The alleged’ purpose ¢ 
of the Cuban mission was to study. various types ae 
fish and their, behavior. toward fish traps. After.a brief period of pressuriza-. 
tion, ‘the four: men in ‘the lab were free to walk around on the ocean floor and: 
conduct-§ experiments... they.had _been sent to perform.:The experiments’ weres 
pre-determined -in Havana ‘and-were not, 
“subject to, monitoring: by: U.S. techni-: 
: 
‘Gians=. The, same. applied: to" the “tests: 
“equipment. brought .with..the- team frome 
; Cubacac. reaver iéce Teas 
Ba: 2 
rae 
CUBAN MISSION. COMPLETED 34.0! 2: res8-3 
s9.In a*statement to The:SPOTLIGHT: 
on-March:8,:the-National” Oceanic. and“ 
Atmospheric: ‘Administration’: * (NOAA): : 
under- the: U S.., Department; ¢ of ‘Com-., 
merce--owner *: cand: operator 
of. the. 
Hydro-Lab—said,..the: ‘Cuban: mission: 
was..completed: and,.the. iteam, was; len 
route back-to-Cuba.ss 4errets Rahs 
»The.NOAA< said.the Cubans, arrived at, 
Sts Croix on February 22 and were taken. 
to-the Hydro-Lab land base for. prelim- 
inary training.. The spokesman ‘said one 
of ..the-:divers::".Gaspar® ‘'Gonzalez- 
Sampson,,- broke .an- eardrum 
during: 
training and was replaced.by:- 
Kevin Mc-; 
Carthy, an’ American diver: 
for. West In-: 
wor} 
cont 
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/26 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707050002-2