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Cubans around the world.

It was a strange [?]phenomenon of the 1970's and into the 1980's to find a Cuban army of conquest active in different parts of the world.

This was both a disturbing and unexpected trend?

To begin with, Cuba is a small country, numbering a population of around 9 million persons. And very poor. A very third world country in all respects. Cuba, which had NEVER been a player on the world stage, was now a player of some repute.

So how was Cuba able to do what it did?

To begin with, Fidel Castro saw himself as being a communist revolutionary on a par with Lenin, Stalin, Mao. A mover and shaker in the world. A man who did things in a big way to make his mark in history. To be quite honest, Castro was not really such a person. He does have an influence, but not as great he sees it. He does desire to be a "big man", and thinks he is one, but the record is woefully lacking in many areas. But sending Cuban troops around the world on a path of conquest fit into Fidel's vision of himself and the world.

What the Cuban Army did, they did as proxies of the Soviet Union. In the TV series, "Messengers From Moscow" [as I have said in a previous blog entry, this program is famous for the way these ex-Soviet persons joked and took such a cavalier attitude toward the subject matter, including the way the Cubans were dominated by the Soviets], this is made quite clear. The Cuban Army was not really the Cuban Army. It was so in name only. It was Cubans in Soviet uniform, using Soviet equipment, organized and trained along Soviet lines. Soviet in all ways, other than it had Cuban manpower. The top staff and ranking officers all trained in Moscow, and were using Soviet doctrine and tactics in all their operations around the world. The Cubans were seen by the Soviets as being "cat's paw". Dupes that could and would do the bidding of their masters. Do the dirty work for the Soviets in places the Soviets would not be necessarily welcomed or wanted. The aid, oil, and credits that kept the Cuban regime afloat for decades was given in exchange for troops that were sent all over the world.

And Cuban troops and army units were found in very incongruous places.

A brigade of Cuban tanks was for a while stationed on the Golan Heights opposite Israel!

Cuban armor was in the forefront of the battle between Ethiopia and Somalia for possession of the Ogaden Desert. A war lost by Somalia because of the strong presence of the Cubans.

A Cuban army fought in the civil war in Angola and ensured the victory of the communist forces favorable to Moscow.

For a while it seemed it was possible that the Cuban forces in Angola might even intervene in Rhodesia or even in South Africa.

It was even reported that a Cuban airborne brigade was at one time active in the fighting in Afghanistan. A battalion from this brigade was reported at one time to have perpetrated a large scale massacre of Afghan villagers.

All this foreign military adventures were of course at the behest of Moscow. Doing the bidding of the masters and doing it pretty well too.

The defector Suvorov comments about the Cuban presence in Soviet Spetsnaz training camps:

"When I was in Odessa most of the people under training intended for work in black Africa. Not all of them came from Africa; quite a lot of them were from Cuba, but that was were the majority were destined . . . they had practically no theoretical tutoring at all. But their practical training was very concentrated, even by Soviet standards. For them there was no shortage of ammunition. Shooting went in in their camp day and night."

These were probably black Cubans intended for wars and Spetsnaz operations in southern Africa. Against the "white" regimes of Rhodesia and south Africa. Perhaps commanded by Spanish speaking Soviet citizens. The offspring of Spanish Communists that fled to the Soviet Union after the victory by Franco.

And what was the reaction of Latin America to the Cuban military conquests al over the world? By repute, these actions on the part of Cuba was favorably received in many quarters among Latin Americans. Persons who would be outraged to the max if just one American gringo soldier even dared set foot in a Latin American country were proud and impressed by the Cuban deering-do. Or so it was presented in some quarters.

And what is the status of the Cuban military today? Well, with the end of the Soviet Union, the proxy service of the Cuban military is no longer needed. Cuban machinations around the world are not a fact as they once were. Cuba is the same old poor, destitute run-down land that it has been for centuries. And Castro still presents himself as a man of the masses and a champion of the downtrodden. But no longer does the Cuban army march all over the world!

coolbert.