HAVANA — Cuba's top sports official accused the U.S. government of masterminding protests to disrupt the torch relay for the Beijing Olympics, part of what he called a U.S. plan to promote an international boycott of the games.

American officials are behind "a ferocious" campaign against China, to convince the international community to boycott some or all of the games' events, Jose Ramon Fernandez, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, told The Associated Press late Saturday.

"The promoters of all this are the United States," Fernandez said, noting that Cuba "fully supports China's right to celebrate the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing without interference of any kind."

Violent protests against five decades of Chinese rule in Tibet have been the largest and most sustained in almost 20 years. A government crackdown last month fueled large demonstrations by pro-Tibet activists and other groups critical of Beijing's human rights record during the Olympic torch relay in London, Paris and San Francisco.

Cuba, which has for decades dismissed complaints about its own human rights record, is one of five communist nations left in the world, including China. Its Foreign Ministry defended China last month, condemning efforts to undermine the Olympics and alleging the Tibet riots were "promoted from outside the country."

U.S. officials have denied promoting an Olympic boycott. President Bush plans to attend opening ceremonies, and American athletes intend to participate in sporting events.

U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley on Sunday said it would be a "cop-out" for countries to skip the opening ceremonies as a way of protesting China's crackdown in Tibet.

The kind of "quiet diplomacy" the U.S. is practicing through private, diplomatic channels is a better way to send a message to Beijing, Hadley told ABC News.