Cuban retracts spy claims in Venezuela

A Cuban national living in Caracas, who earlier this year said that fifteen-hundred Cuban intelligence agents had infiltrated Venezuela to spread communism, has retracted his claims.

The man, Juan Rosabal, said he had been duped by his lawyers and a group of Cuban dissidents into making the false claims, in return for a visa and thirty-thousand dollars.

He said their intention had been to discredit the president, Hugo Chavez, ahead of presidential elections.

At the time, the Cuban ambassador said Mr Rosabal's story was a hoax.

Mr Rosabal later sought refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy in Caracas. Mr Chavez has been criticised at home for forging a close friendship with the Cuban president, Fidel Castro.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service