WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rebuttal came quickly Tuesday from the U.S.
                  State Department to Cuban President Fidel Castro's claims that America
                  allows terrorists to live within its borders and attack Cuba.

                  Castro spoke at length with Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman in an
                  exclusive interview broadcast Tuesday on CNN's WorldView program.
                  After admitting that Cuba sends spies to the United States, Castro said the
                  U.S. does the same to his country, as well as allowing "terrorist activities"
                  against Cuba.

                  In Washington, State Department spokesman James Rubin flatly denied that
                  charge. "We hear from time to time these kinds of ridiculous allegations from
                  Fidel Castro. Let me say, as the series of events over the last weeks should
                  make clear, we've arrested people and are committed to vigorously enforce
                  our laws, and those include laws against espionage, and they also include
                  laws against terrorism."

                  Rubin added, "We are committed to fight terrorism here and in every
                  country in the world, and unfortunately again, Fidel Castro is wrong."

                 In defense of his own actions, which have placed spies in the United
                 States, Castro told CNN, "I think we have a right to do this.... The United
                 States has spies in industrial quantities.

                  "We have sometimes dispatched Cuban citizens to the United States to
                  infiltrate counterrevolutionary organizations, to inform us about
                  activities that are of great interest to us," he said.

                  Castro denied any attempts to spy on the U.S. military. He added the
                  movements of U.S. forces near Cuba would be of interest if they "translate
                  into an act of aggression against Cuba. But we know that at this time that is
                  not the fundamental thinking of the U.S. government."

                  Spy vs. spy debate follows 10 arrests in Florida

                  Castro's admission of sending spies to the United States came as no surprise
                  to exile groups in Miami. They point to 10 alleged Cuban spies arrested in
                  Florida last month. Authorities called it the largest Cuban spy ring uncovered
                  in the United States since Castro came to power in 1959.

                  The suspects were charged with trying to penetrate U.S. military bases,
                  infiltrate anti-Castro exile groups and manipulate U.S. media and political
                  organizations.

                  Jorge Mas Jr., of the Brothers to the Rescue group in Miami, told CNN he
                  personally knew of Cuban spies who slipped into his organization.

                  While U.S. authorities have trumpeted the recent arrests of Cuban spies,
                  there has been some evidence the spying goes both ways. In August,
                  seven Cuban exiles were indicted in Puerto Rico as part of a plot to
                  murder Fidel Castro.

                  The interview was conducted in Oporto, Portugal, while Castro attended the
                  Ibero-American summit, and it included the Cuban president's opinions on
                  many other subjects, including U.S. President Bill Clinton.

                  Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman and Correspondent Pat Neal
                  contributed to this report.