Cubans detain US citizen: State Department

The official was not at liberty to provide further details of the arrest a week ago, at the individual's request. But The New York Times late Friday said he was a US government contract worker, without identifying him.

The newspaper said the man worked for a company based in a suburb of the US capital, Washington, and at the time of his arrest was distributing cell phones, laptops and other communications equipment in Cuba on behalf of the US government.

"We confirm that a US citizen was arrested by the Cuban government. I was informed it happened on December 5," the US Interests Section spokeswoman told AFP.

"We have contacted Cuban authorities to request consular access" to the detainee, she said, adding that they were still waiting for an answer.

The detention and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it could strain ties between the countries at a time when both had promised to open new channels of engagement. The neighboring Cold War foes do not have full diplomatic ties.

Cuba's communist government -- the Americas' only one-party regime and centrally planned economy -- regularly charges there is no domestic opposition of note. And it claims that the United States bankrolls tiny numbers of dissidents by sending them money and supplies.

US officials cited by the newspaper said they were encouraged that Cuba had not publicized the detention, and were hopeful that the American might be quietly freed.

The firm identified by the Times as his contractor, DAI of Bethesda, Maryland, did not immediately confirm the detention to AFP.

Cuba has allowed more of its citizens than ever to buy cell phones and computers, but even the limited access to digital technology that is available has created problems for the government. Most of Cuba's 11 million people do not yet have access to the Internet.

There has been a slight thaw in US-Cuban relations since US President Barack Obama took office in January and lifted some US travel and remittance restrictions to the island. Both governments recently resumed negotiations on migration and postal exchange issues.

Yet baby steps have not turned into strides, after more than five decades of enmity. The United States insists Cuba should change, while Havana suggests the United States do the same.

And the Obama administration has made quite clear the 47-year US economic embargo of Cuba would continue until the communist island made strides toward democracy.

President Raul Castro's government however has given no indication it is inclined to allow any major political or economic opening.

Just last month Havana slammed a scathing report by Human Rights Watch on Cuba's treatment of dissidents, calling it a bid to justify the decades-old US economic embargo.

The HRW report, "New Castro, Same Cuba," detailed how Cuba's political and religious activists live in constant fear and growing poverty under the regime of Raul Castro.

The report called on the United States to ally with the European Union, Canada and Latin America to adopt joint sanctions and give Havana six months to free all its political prisoners.

The report, secretly researched on unauthorized visits to the island, was the first full accounting of human rights violations under the younger Castro, who took Cuba's helm in July 2006 as Fidel faced a life-threatening health crisis.

Fidel Castro survived his illness and remains head of the Cuban Communist Party and is a newspaper political commentator.

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