Cuba is demanding answers from the Bush administration on allegations the top US diplomat in Havana ferried money from an anti-Castro exile group in Miami to opposition figures on the island. The cash is said to come from Santiago Alvarez, who was once convicted in the US of conspiring to collect military-style weapons to overthrow Cuba’s government. Alvarez is currently serving a ten-month prison term for refusing to testify against airline bomber Luis Posada Carriles. On Thursday, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque questioned the Bush administration’s involvement in the case.

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque: “We are here today to ask what the government knows about this situation. What does the Secretary of State know? Was she informed that her Havana diplomats were acting this way? And now, what does she think? Does she see clearly that her diplomats were acting as go-betweens? Does she support Parmly in his activities as go-between and emissary shuttling money from terrorists groups to mercenary groups.”