U.S. State Department denied Thursday a U.S. man detained by Cuba is a spy, saying he has no connection with U.S. intelligence agencies.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a regular briefing the man, whose identity has not been released, "is not associated with our intelligence services."

The American, who reportedly distributed communications equipment in Cuba, was detained early last month. Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, president of the Cuban National Assembly of People's Power (CNAPP), accused him of working for U.S. spy agencies Wednesday.