For the first time since the Cold War, Russian warships are attempting to intimidate the US and project an image of strength in the Caribbean.
While this might feel like an eerie echo of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Russia’s military is a shadow of what it once was. Even before its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, it was no match for the US. Now, as it still fails to beat the indomitable Ukrainians, it is in even worse shape. Gone are the days when Russia could send a real flotilla to project its ‘power’. Its Black Sea fleet is in tatters after years of being savaged by Ukrainian operations and is losing ships far faster than it can replace them.
Putin could only spare four vessels for this ‘routine’ visit which just so happened to occur after the US gave Ukraine the green light to hit targets inside Russia.
The arrival of a Russian nuclear-powered submarine and three warships in Havana, with a possible stopover in Venezuela, constitutes another clear show of support for Cuba’s communist regime and for the destabilising activities that this regime has perpetrated against the democratic nations of Latin America.
Russia consistently interferes in Cuba’s internal affairs to buttress the crumbling Latin American dictatorship. This is a regime that holds more than 1,400 political prisoners and habitually practices torture and carries out extrajudicial killings. Since July 2021, 1,905 people have been detained and dozens have been forced to work at labour camps.
But it’s not only Russia that supports this brutality, Cuba also continues to receive European and US cash. For nearly 40 years, the brutal dictatorship in Cuba owed the UK and other major creditors billions of US dollars. Shockingly, nearly $8.5 billion of the Castro regime’s debt was forgiven in 2015 and yet Cuba continues to fail to meet its obligations. There is no doubt that these payments have aided Cuba in its human rights abuses, yet the European Union has funded the dictatorship to the tune of €300 million.
It is estimated that the EU is currently funding 80 projects in Cuba at a cost of nearly €155m. Every single one of these projects is run by organisations with close ties to the communist regime.
Cuba’s other international dealings are just as bad. It helps prop up vicious dictatorships in Venezuela and Nicaragua. It has participated in multiple foreign interventions as an enthusiastic Russian proxy – including in Angola.
The regime declared full support for Russia at the outset of Putin’s illegal war and Cuban international representatives have consistently voted against any support for Ukraine.
However, not only is Cuba an enthusiastic cheerleader for Russian military operations, it actively participates. It has been confirmed that there are a steady stream of Cubans fighting for Russia in Ukraine. Over 5,000 Cubans have crossed the Atlantic to fight for Russia’s imperialist conquest.
The complicity between Putin’s Russia and the communist regime of Cuba has been clearly confirmed by Russia’s presence in Cuban waters.
In addition to sending Cuban mercenaries to Ukraine to assist in the Russian invasion, the communist dictatorship now welcomes Russia on Cuban coasts to bolster its regime and threaten the United States.
Cuba is diplomatically, financially, and militarily tied to Russia and Belarus. It is supporting efforts to destroy Ukraine. The West must act and look to penalise Castro and his cronies for their loyalty to Putin.
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