The Cuban Defense Ministry announced that for November 26-28, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionaria (Revolutionary Armed Forces), Interior Ministry and other national defense actors will perform nationwide military exercises. The tactical exercises will require, for example, troops movement, air flights, and explosions.
Called “Bastión 2009,” the exercise is meant to ensure that Cuba is optimally prepared to defend its territory—a high priority ever since the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, even during difficult economic times. The three day exercises will ring in National Defense Day on November 29.
I am reminded of a Cuban blogger Claudia Cadelo’s post of February 2009 about posters that adorn restaurants and cafes in Havana, advising Cubans (among other things) that “causing the greatest possible number of casualties on the active enemy forces is our main goal.”
As Claudia responded: “[The militaristic mindset encouraged by the Cuban government] makes me wonder if we’re at war and against whom.”
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Dear Melissa -
Actually, you cannot read the words on the poster, and I doubt sincerely that the poster really has the words which you quote Cuban blogger Claudia Cadelo as saying: “causing the greatest possible number of casualties on the active enemy forces is our main goal.”
Indeed, quite contrary to what the blogger claims, Major General Leonardo Andollo, who is directing these exercises, says something completely different from what Cadelo claims
He told the official Granma newspaper that the “Bastion-2009″ exercises will “raise the deterrent capacity to prevent a military confrontation, under the principle that there is no better way to win a war than by avoiding it.”
Read the full AFP story: http://tinyurl.com/yhbka6b
Perhaps you should ask the Cuban blogger to take a closer photo and let’s see if the words she quotes are actually there. I rather doubt it.
Thanks,
Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
You are quite right about Gen. Andollo’s comments. I did not mean to imply that this was a training for attack; this is a training for defense. That is also what Claudia’s post referred to briefly: defending the revolution such that when the enemy strikes, as many of their forces are taken down as possible in defending the revolution.
I link here to the largest I could get the poster to show: click here.
The fifth bullet point on the left reads: “Causar la mayor cantidad de bajas posibles al enemigo en fuerzas vivas es nuestro principal objetivo.” This is, of course, only one of the many points, and I selected it merely as an example.
Great. Keep in mind also, Melissa, that the Cuban military talks to the US military regularly. Indeed, they have monthly meetings which are hosted alternatively by the US side and the Cuban side. This is not widely spoken about, but it is a fact.
Here’s an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal describing these meetings:
Despite the diplomatic freeze between Washington and Havana, “we do have military-to-military relations with the Cubans, and have had such for the last 10 years,” Capt. Leary explains. He meets each month with his Cuban counterpart, also a navy captain, and their negotiations are often productive. “When we first started flying detainees in at night, after very long flights, [pilots] used to have to turn right at the fence line,…only about 1.2 miles from the end of the runway — not a problem for small tactical aircraft; a little bit more shaky for larger, cargo-type aircraft.” Capt. Leary asked the Cubans for “about a five-mile extension…to make a more normal approach,” and they agreed. The Cubans have also allowed medical-evacuation aircraft to fly across the width of the island.
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs954.html
The problem, as I see it, is fundamentally a political one. Washington still refuses to accept the legitimacy of Cuba’s revolutionary government, and remains committed to a “regime change” strategy toward the small island nation.
Once Washington agrees to accept Cuba as a respectful equal partner for negotiations, I believe outstanding issues could be resolved.
We won’t know, however, until Washington takes the necessary steps.
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