U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said on Monday that along with Libya and
                 Syria, Cuba is working to develop weapons of mass destruction. He said
                 Washington would take action to ensure these countri es do not supply terrorists
                 with such arms.

                 "Cuba's threat to our security has been underplayed," Bolton said, adding the United
                 States believed Havana had "at least a limited offensive biological warfare research
                 and development effort (and has) provided dual-use technology to other rogue
                 states." He refused to name the states Cuba has allegedly supplied.

                 The remarks piled a fresh accusation onto Washington's long-standing criticism of
                 President Fidel Castro's one-party communist system. The United States, which
                 maintains a 40-year-old economic embargo on Havana, already includes Cuba on a
                 list of nations it says sponsor terrorism.

                 A Cuban Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday there was no
                 comment yet about the charge on biological weapons. Such a delay in responding
                 to an accusation from abroad is not uncommon in Cuba.

                 However Cuba did attack the United States on an unrelated issue, issuing a
                 statement charging that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich lied about
                 events involving Havana during April's botched coup against Venezuelan President
                 Hugo Chavez.

                 Reich, a Cuban-American known for his opposition to Castro, said on Monday four
                 Cuban planes landed in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, on the morning of April 12,
                 even as the military was forcing Chavez out.

                 Chavez, a close Castro friend and ally, was back in power less than 48 hours later
                 with the help of loyal troops and civilian supporters.

                 "The Cuban Foreign Ministry categorically denies the untrue statements made by
                 the assistant secretary of state," Tuesday's Cuban government statement said.
                 Havana challenged Reich to present "the least shred of evidence that even one
                 Cuban plane landed in Caracas on the morning of April 12."

                    Copyright 2002 Reuters.