Cuban strongman Fidel Castro is cracking down on the latest enemy of the revolution: Christmas lights.

The dictatorship has threatened the American interest section in Havana with “serious consequences” if it does not remove a Christmas light display around the perimeter of its headquarters.

In a country where the display of Christmas lights is strongly discouraged by the communist government – public displays of lights in the capital are virtually nonexistent – the golden lights festooning the base of the interest section have inflamed the Castro regime.

Government officials “said on two occasions if we didn’t take down the objects, there would be serious consequences,” the American chief of mission, James Cason, told The New York Sun from Havana.

Mr. Cason said the American interest section – the equivalent of an unofficial embassy – has no intention of taking down the decorations. He did not know what retaliatory actions the government might take.

Mr. Cason, a career employee of the Foreign Service who has been stationed at the interest section for two-and-a-half years, speculated that Cuba could expel the diplomats or further restrict their activities. Mr. Cason and other Americans at the section are not allowed to travel in Cuba outside Havana and are barred from speaking to government officials, except for a “handler” in the foreign ministry.

The display, which the interest section installed on December 6, includes a pole strewn with lights in the shape of a Christmas tree and crowned with a star, as well as a 2-story-tall Santa Claus figure and an image of a snowman against a wall.

“In a dark and oppressive places it is subversive to a shine a light,” Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, said. The human rights organization is based at Washington D.C.

Officials at Cuba’s mission to the United Nations in New York City did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

The aspect of the holiday display that is most infuriating to the government, Mr. Cason said, is the glowing disk propped up near the base of the building that reads “75.”

That symbolizes the number of prodemocracy dissidents who were arrested, tried, and imprisoned last year in a crackdown on democratic activism in the country. The political prisoners were sentenced to a combined 1,454 years in prison on charges of treason or “disrespect” for the government. Human rights groups estimate that, in all, Cuba is holding more than 300 political prisoners.

“Showing a number ’75’ does not kill anyone,” Mr. Calzon said. “It doesn’t force anyone to attend a political rally. Cubans are not forced to go to the interest section to watch the lights.”

Mr. Castro’s opposition to Christmas observances stretches back to the early years of the regime, when he officially banned the holiday in 1969. The government lifted the ban in 1997 and officially celebrated the holiday in honor of the visit of Pope John Paul II in January 1998. Cuba has reportedly freed 14 of the prisoners, including several in the last few weeks, in what is believed to be an attempt to improve relations with Europe. One of those freed this month was journalist Raul Rivero.

“The ’75’ is important,” Mr. Cason said, “because Cubans are very much family-oriented people. And for us, especially with all of the darkness of this place, we wanted to remind people symbolically that there are 75 political prisoners.”

Though the decorative lights have become a tradition for the interest section, the reference to political prisoners is a new addition.

“We’ve been putting up lights for a number of years, and we make them better and better,” he said.

Though the Cuban government permits the interest section to operate in the same building as the Swiss embassy, the Americans are hardly welcomed. In front of the building, the interest section has another sign that reads “Merry Christmas” in Spanish, he said. The Cuban government has installed a red sign facing the building that reads in 2-foot-tall letters, “We will conquer. Fatherland or death.”

Mr. Cason said tens of thousands of Cubans have passed by the Christmas display, which he said was the only public “light show” in the country.

Though few Cuban citizens are aware of the significance of the “75” sign, the meaning of the symbol is spreading as more people visit the interest section, he said.

Mr. Cason said Sunday he held a Christmas party at his house for children of the political prisoners. He said 10 Cuban security officers stood outside his house in an attempt to “intimidate” people coming to the party.

Meanwhile, countries in the European Union may soon prohibit their diplomats in Cuba from holding similar parties. Officials of the European Council for Latin America recommended yesterday that the diplomats exclude dissidents from diplomatic cocktail parties on the island, the Miami Herald reported. The officials also recommended that diplomats not invite any high-level Cuban officials.

Mr. Cason said Cuba has pressured the European Union to pass such a ban on inviting dissidents to the functions.

A spokesman for the Dutch government told the Miami Herald that the E.U. is looking for ways to end the diplomatic “deadlock” with the island. A final resolution on the matter will be considered next month in a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers, the American newspaper reported.