Military interventions of Cuba

Cuban PT-76 tank in the streets of Luanda (Angola), 1976.

The military interventions of Cuba in the rest of the world began after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, which meant its alignment with one of the two superpowers of the time, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which meant a change in Cuban foreign policy.[1][2] All these interventions had the common elements of being directed towards countries of the Third World, helping the implantation or support of governments related to Marxism-Leninism, justified by the Cuban government under the argument that it was of "proletarian internationalism" or anti-colonialism made in support of the peoples that according to the Cuban government wanted to have a socialist state, that the Cuban invasions were functional to the geopolitical interests of the Soviet Union and in opposition to the foreign policy of the United States of America, and were carried out with technical support from the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic.[1] In the official terminology allowed by the Cuban government, the military interventions carried out by the socialist Cuba can be called "internationalist missions".[3][4]

During the Cold War, the Cuban government headed by Fidel Castro prioritized military action as the main role of the Cuban state in the world, converting the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) into the second largest military force in the Americas, after the United States Armed Forces and probably similar to the Brazilian Armed Forces of the time.[1][2] At this time, Cuba had the ninth of the 10 largest armies in the world.[1]

The period in which the interventions are given has sometimes been called by its critics the age of "Cuban imperialism" or "Cuban military imperialism",[1] while in Cuban official terminology the term "Cuban military internationalism" can also be found.[3] The term would include both direct military interventions (wars, sending of military forces) and indirect interventions (logistic support of governments or guerrilla movements, espionage service activity, incitement to coups d'état). The Cuban socialist regime, in the plans of expansion of its influence, gave preference to direct military intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa, unlike in Latin America where it gave preference to the sponsorship of local subversive organizations. The Cuban military presence in Africa is particularly notable,[5] with more than 36,000 troops in 1985, especially in Angola (23,000) and Ethiopia (12,000). Within Cuba the regime justified the sending of Cubans to the distant African wars under the discourse that Cuba is a "Latin-African" nation.[1][2]

As the Socialist Bloc collapsed at the end of the 1980s, Cuban troops and operations abroad were reduced, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Special Period in Cuba in the early 1990s, the Cuban military interventions abroad ended.

List of military interventions

The FAR officially recognizes 5 military interventions of Cuba, in Algeria, Syria, Congo, Angola and Ethiopia.[4] However other sources expand the list including Nicaragua. This list only includes the sending of Cuban military personnel as regular forces recognized as belligerents between the States. Military invasions are added separately for coup purposes.

1963: Sand War in Algeria, is the first intervention of the Cuban armed forces in foreign territory.

1964-1965: Congo Crisis. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, regular Cuban troops infiltrated from Tanzania participated in war activities without much success.

1973-1974: During the Yom Kippur War, Syria requested military aid to Cuba and the Cuban government sent a brigade of tanks that participated in combats.

1975-1991: Regular Cuban forces enter Angola, in the mission called Operación Carlota (Operation Carlota), to support the communist government and participate in the Angolan Civil War and the South African Border War.

1977-1988: During the Ethiopian Civil War and the Ogaden War, Cuban troops entered into Ethiopia to support the Ethiopian socialist government and fight the Somali national liberation movement of the Ogaden.

1979-1990: In the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua, the Cuban State sent military personnel who took control of the Nicaraguan military security and intelligence services.[6]

Failed invasions

1959: Failed expedition to Panama in order to start a revolutionary movement in the country. They were arrested after a skirmish with the Panamanian National Guard.[7]

1959: Failed expedition to the Dominican Republic to overthrow the government in alliance with the Dominican exile.[8]

1963 and 1967: Failed expeditions of the Cuban military to take power in Venezuela installing a Cuban-friendly government and ensure the supply of oil to the island. The Venezuelan government repelled the invasion by destroying the Cuban artillery installed in Venezuelan islands.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "La intervención militar cubana: manifestación del poder militar soviético en países del tercer mundo (1960-1993)" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Domínguez, Jorge (2009). "Introducción". La política exterior de Cuba (1962-2009) (PDF) (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial Colibrí. pp. 9–35. ISBN 978-84-934605-7-0. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Abreu, José (September 5, 2011). "El internacionalismo militar cubano en la historiografía de la isla" (in Spanish). Holguín: Radio Angulo. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Sautié, Pedro; Pérez San Miguel, Alfredo. "Misiones militares internacionalistas cumplidas por las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de la República de Cuba" (in Spanish). Havana: Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  5. ↑ Freire, Orlando. "La otra cara de la intervención en África". Cubanet (in Spanish). Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Las guerras secretas de Fidel Castro: Los sandinistas" (PDF). cubamatinal.com (in Spanish). August 30, 2008. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Rubén Miró y la invasión de cubanos a Panamá" (in Spanish). Panama City: La Estrella de Panamá. April 22, 2010. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  8. ↑ Lora, J. Armando. "Invasión" (in Spanish). Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  9. ↑ Flores, Victor (September 28, 2013). ""Los cubanos son los artífices del fraude electoral en Venezuela"". El País (in Spanish). Madrid: Ediciones El País. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  • "The Cuban Army Abroad – Fidel Castro's Foreign Cold Warriors". Military History Now. January 29, 2016.
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