Chronicle on Cuba - November 2008

Security

November 3: Russia has offered to send technical experts to Cuba, to help optimize Cuban air defences. Currently, the Cuban air defenses are largely ineffective. The main anti-aircraft weapons are some SAM-6 (self-propelled system that fires 1200 pound missiles with a range of 24 kilometres), SAM-8 (self-propelled system that fires 360 pound missiles with a range of 15 kilometres) and several shorter range (4-8 kilometres) missiles, either portable or self-propelled. Most of these are inoperable, as Cuba has had little money for spare parts and maintenance since Russian aid was ended in the early 1990s. There are only about two-dozen warplanes in working condition, but these can be quickly eliminated by a smaller number of more modern aircraft. The most effective anti-aircraft weapons are thousands of heavy (14.5mm) machine-guns and automatic cannon (mostly 23mm). What the Cubans need is $20-30 million worth of spare parts, and several hundred new missiles. The Russians are apparently not willing to be that generous. The Russian offer does include training some Cuban air-defence officers. All this appears to be what could be called a "friendly gesture," and not something really meaningful. But it's a start, and perhaps the Russians are thinking of reopening their electronic listening operation (Strategy Page, 3/11/08).

November 11: Russia has been trying to restore its Cold War-era alliance with Cuba by expanding trade and military ties. Its efforts are intended partly to show displeasure with the United States, accused by President Dmitry Medvedev of implementing unilateral policies that have destabilized the world. "Cooperation between Russia and Cuba in the military- technical sphere is developing normally (…) and every country has the right to define with whom it will develop such cooperation," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said in Moscow, after talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "Cuba will not ask permission from any other country and will not explain it to anyone. Cooperation between Russia and Cuba in this area will always be directed to widening the defence capabilities of Cuba," said Perez Roque, who also had talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Lavrov said Russia's military cooperation with Cuba was "an important component of our close partnership" (Reuters, 11/11/08).

November 11: Cuba has ruled out installing on its soil elements of a planned Russian missile defence system countering a US network that Washington proposes to deploy in Central Europe. "We acknowledge the right of Russia to take response measures and to reply to the growing aggression of the United States and NATO, which are trying to encircle her," visiting Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told a press conference in Moscow. When asked directly about the possible deployment of a Russian missile defence system in Cuba, he said: "The answer is no." The matter was not discussed during his meetings here with Russian officials, he said (IANS, 12/11/08).

Terrorism

November 17: US president-elect Barack Obama, reiterated his vow to close the prison located at the Guantanamo military base in southeastern Cuba, a territory that is illegally occupied by Washington. "I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that," vowed Obama in CBS’ “60-minute”, in his first television interview after winning the presidential election on November 4. Several international organizations, governments allied to the White House and more recently five former US secretaries of state have recommended the closure of the Guantanamo prison (ACN, 17/11/08).