RVIO: it would be useful for the Russian army to return to Cuba to better "see" the United States
MOSCOW, June 3 - RIA Novosti. The withdrawal of the Russian military contingent from Cuba with the subsequent closure of the electronic intelligence center in Lourdes was not beneficial for Moscow, the return of the Russian army there today would allow it to "keep abreast" of its strategic rival - the United States, Mikhail Myagkov, scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), told RIA Novosti.
Exactly 30 years ago, on July 3, 1993, Russian servicemen left Cuba. At the same time, the Russian electronic intelligence station in Lourdes continued to operate until 2002.
"Thanks to our radio-electronic center in Lourdes, we "saw" the entire southeast of the United States, and I think it was a mistake that we left there, but there was a time when we believed that we had no enemies, although Washington did not stop thinking of us as a potential enemy. The issue of the return of the Russian military contingent to the Island of Freedom would be relevant for the protection of both Russian and Cuban interests, so it would be worth considering," Myagkov is convinced.
The historian noted that Russia is actively developing its economic and military-technical ties with Cuba again today, and if Havana wants to deepen such relations with Moscow, then, of course, all these proposals will be carefully studied by the Russian top leadership.
At the same time, the RVIO stressed that Moscow would not expand its infrastructure to the detriment of priority tasks in the military sphere, the main one of which remains the achievement of the goals of the special operation in Ukraine.
Trained the Cuban army
Myagkov recalled that initially the number of Soviet military groups in Cuba was 50 thousand people. After the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962, it was reduced to 11 thousand and had more political than military significance: in the event of an attack by the United States or anti-government "contras" on Soviet units in Cuba, Moscow could equate this to an attack on the territory of the USSR with all the ensuing consequences, "and everyone understood this."
On the basis of the 7th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the USSR Armed Forces stationed in Cuba, Cuban military personnel who successfully participated in the conflicts in the Congo, Angola and Ethiopia were trained.
At the same time, according to the memoirs of Soviet servicemen, the Island of Freedom was not a "paradise on Earth": there is a very specific climate, there were deadly snakes, scorpions and spiders, from which Soviet soldiers died.
Myagkov stressed that today cooperation with Cuba is not limited exclusively to the military and economic component - over the decades, the two countries have developed stable cultural and spiritual ties. For example, the RVIO recently unveiled a monument in Moscow to former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the official Cuban delegation.
Commenting on the information of the American press that now a Chinese radio-electronic center is allegedly going to appear in Cuba, the scientific director of the RVIO noted that even if this information is true, it is a natural result of the expansion of Chinese influence in Latin America and the United States has no right to accuse China or Russia of any expansion, since they themselves have 800 military bases deployed all over the world.
