In the News - 2000



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Granma - Diciembre 27, 2000

En maniobra el Ejército Occidental

Roger Ricardo Luis

Con un levantamiento por alarma de combate de una agrupación de tropas en la madrugada y el paso hacia la zona de desconcentración, ayer se inició la maniobra con tiro de combate dedicada al 42 aniversario del Triunfo de la Revolución en el territorio del Ejército Occidental.

Durante el primer día de acciones, la jefatura y planas mayores estuvieron enfrascadas en la preparación de la marcha y posterior ocupación de la región de designación combativa, misión esta última realizada en horas de la noche.

En este complejo ejercicio, que se desarrollará hasta el jueves, participan unidades de tanques, infantería mecanizada, tropas especiales, las MTT, las tropas especiales populares, artillería, unidades navales y aéreas, tanto de caza como helicópteros; asimismo, pequeñas unidades de defensa antiaérea y de aseguramiento combativo.

Un papel importante también desempeña en esta maniobra el sistema defensivo territorial.

Este tipo de ejercicio, que se desarrolla en condiciones que se asemejan al combate contemporáneo, resume todo el trabajo del año de instrucción y comprueba el nivel alcanzado por las tropas en el citado período.

Desde los primeros momentos se puso en evidencia la cohesión y alta disposición combativas de las unidades participantes, los hábitos y habilidades de los jefes en el ejercicio del mando, la cooperación en la preparación y los aseguramientos.

 

 

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Diciembre 23, 2000

Granma

 

Continúan maniobras de las FAR en condiciones climáticas difíciles

José Antonio Fulgueiras

CORRALILLO, Villa Clara.- La segunda jornada de las maniobras militares Aniversario 44 del Desembarco del Granma se desarrolló aquí bajo una pertinaz lluvia que realzó las habilidades de las tropas y los jefes en la organización y disposición combativas de las fuerzas actuantes.

En condiciones climáticas sumamente difíciles se trasladaron los medio de combate hacia la región de concentración y desgaste del supuesto enemigo desembarcado por un punto del territorio nacional que defiende el ejército central en combinación con las fuerzas territoriales.

En la maniobra sabatina se realizaron emboscadas, golpes sorpresivos y otras acciones de desgaste contra el enemigo desembarcado por mar y por aire.

El general de división Alvaro López Miera, viceministro de las FAR y jefe del Estado Mayor General, se mostró estimulado por el comportamiento exhibido por la técnica de combate empleada, la cual en su mayoría se encontraba guardada por casi un lustro en obras fortificadas de alta protección.

Valoró, asimismo, de muy positiva la disposición combativa demostrada por las tropas regulares, reservistas y milicianos en las marchas nocturnas por caminos angostos de 40 kilómetros hacia las regiones de combate.

Dijo López Miera que el próximo 26 de diciembre continuarán estas maniobras en el territorio del ejército occidental, para culminar así un año de resultados fructíferos en la preparación combativa de nuestras Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias.

 

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Russia Looks to Renew Cuba Military Ties

MOSCOW, Dec 19, 2000 -- (The Russia Journal) President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Cuba took a number of observers by surprise.

But even more of a surprise was the makeup of the delegation he took with him.

Included in it was Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev, who held negotiations on military-technical cooperation. That, observers say, indicates that Russia still considers its military relations with the communist country 90 miles off the coast of the United States to be important. Sergeyev had been planning a visit to Iran but he suddenly postponed those plans and set off with Putin for the Caribbean.

Havana’s military ties to the Kremlin date to the early 1960s and conjure up memories of the 1962 missile crisis that brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of war. Some Russian military experts worried about expanding U.S. influence think Sergeyev should now seek to restore the Russian military presence on the island. They say its proximity to the United States makes it an ideal base from which to monitor any U.S. missile launches.

"It’s not clear yet what kind of military agreements will be signed between Russia and Cuba," said military expert Alexander Ovchinnikov, who spent two years serving at a Soviet military base in Cuba. "I think, though, that agreements will probably involve operation and modernization of the early warning missile-attack station at Lourdes and modernization of the Cuban army’s military technology."

Ovchinnikov said that when he was serving on the island from 1984-’86 there was a training center and liaison and intelligence-gathering installations, which together with the Cuban army guaranteed the island’s "sovereignty."

"The tanks and armored personnel carriers weren’t new, but they were in good order," Ovchinnikov recalled. "At shooting practice and during exercises, I saw for myself the skill and endurance of the Cuban soldiers. Many of them had been through their baptism of fire in Angola and Nicaragua."

Ovchinnikov said he believes that Russia betrayed Cuba when it pulled out of Soviet commitments in 1992. "I had already left Cuba by then, but I had Cuban friends in Moscow and they left our military academies full of bitterness and incomprehension and without even having finished their studies."

Col. Valery Ramazanov, who also served in Cuba, said that Soviet military commitments there came with a heavy financial burden, although he indicated it was worth the expense. Keeping the Soviet contingent cost the government 8 million Soviet rubles a day (close to $8 million going by the official exchange rate of the time), he said.

"We were bringing in oil and other supplies," Ramazanov said. "We had our biggest group of military advisers there, and it was in large part thanks to us that the Cuban army was one of the best prepared in Latin America."

Ramazanov said he hoped that with the change of leadership in the Kremlin, Russia and Cuba would re-establish close military ties.

Col. Gen. Nikolai Kizyun, former head of the Lenin Military-Political Academy, said that Russian-Cuban military contacts would be a serious counterweight to U.S. expansionist policy, and that the early warning station in Lourdes would guarantee Russian security if the United States were to deploy a Star Wars-type program.

"But let’s not be militarists," Kizyun said, "The arms on Cuba are all for defense. Their modernization and upgrading is not an aim in itself. The main thing is for Russia to renew its trade contacts with Cuba on new principles of equal partnership, and that will require not just a military presence, but also a political and economic presence."

Col. Vyacheslav Sedov of the Defense Ministry expressed concern that after the final ratification of the START-2 treaty, the United States could put pressure on Russia for its military installations in Cuba, in the same way that Russia has voiced its opposition to a U.S. radar station in Norway.

"The United States has this Helms-Burton Act, which states in Section 106 that the United States disagrees with the presence of the Russian intelligence-gathering facility on Cuba," Sedov said. "American legislators think this provision contradicts the sense of the nuclear-weapons limitation agreement between the U.S. and Russia."

Sedov also said that Cuba should not be seen as a military counterweight and argument in what he called "imaginary rivalry with the United States."

"We’re not rivals; we’re partners," Sedov said. He also noted, however, that Russia has its own interests and has the right to defend these interests using legitimate and transparent means, including in Cuba with its sensitive position so close to U.S. border.

(C)2000 The Russia Journal

 

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Diciembre 18, 2000

Granma

 

Concluye visita a Cuba Ministro de Defensa de la Federación de Rusia

Julio Gómez Lluciá

El mariscal Igor Dmitrievich Sergueiev, ministro de Defensa de la Federación de Rusia, concluyó en la noche de ayer su visita a nuestro país, la cual valoró de muy positiva según fuentes allegadas.

El distinguido huésped y la delegación que lo acompañó en este periplo a Cuba sostuvo un encuentro de despedida en horas de la tarde de este domingo con el General de Ejército Raúl Castro Ruz, Ministro de las Fuerzas Armadas, en el polo turístico de Varadero, provincia de Matanzas.

En horas de la noche los generales de división Julio Casas Regueiro, viceministro primero del MINFAR, y Alvaro López Miera, viceministro jefe del Estado Mayor General, además de otros jefes y oficiales, despidieron a la delegación visitante en la Terminal 1 del aeropuerto internacional José Martí, de Rancho Boyeros.

Sergueiev formó parte de la comitiva presidida por Vladimir Putin, presidente de Rusia, que realizó una visita oficial a nuestro país invitado por el Presidente de los Consejos de Estado y de Ministros Fidel Castro Ruz.

 

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Diciembre 17, 2000

Granma

 

Recibe Raúl en el MINFAR a Ministro de Defensa ruso

Roger Ricardo Luis

El General de Ejército Raúl Castro, Ministro de las FAR, recibió en la sede del MINFAR a su colega ruso, Mariscal Igor Dmitrievich Sergueiev, quien acompaña al Presidente Vladimir Putin en su visita oficial a nuestro país.

El titular de Defensa de la Federación de Rusia estuvo acompañado por los coroneles generales Viacheslav Nikolaevich Maleshko y Leonid Grigorievich Ivashov, este último jefe de la Dirección de Colaboración Militar con el Exterior, entre otros altos jefes de las Fuerzas Armadas rusas que conforman el equipo que acompaña al Ministro ruso.

Por la parte cubana participaron en el encuentro los generales de división Julio Casas Regueiro, viceministro primero del MINFAR, y Alvaro López Miera, viceministro jefe del Estado Mayor General, entre otros jefes de la institución armada.

Al término de las conversaciones fue firmado el plan de colaboración técnico-militar por ambos ministros y que da seguimiento a la colaboración que tradicionalmente se ha desarrollado entre ambos cuerpos militares.

El mariscal Igor Dmitrievich Sergueiev, quien por primera vez visita a nuestro país, tiene 62 años de edad, es doctor en Ciencias Técnicas y fue designado ministro de Defensa de la Federación de Rusia en mayo de 1997, con anterioridad se había desempeñado como jefe de las Tropas Coheteriles Estratégicas. Entre otras muchas distinciones nacionales y extranjeras ostenta la Orden Estrella Roja.

 

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December 8, 2000

The Washington Times

Inside the Ring

Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough

Notes from the Pentagon.

Fidel's underground

Cuban President Fidel Castro's military forces are underground, literally. According to a classified Defense Intelligence Agency(DIA) report, the Cubans have built an extensive network of underground bunkersand tunnels for key military forces, air-defense sites, and command-and-control facilities.    

"A massive tunnel network constructed along the northern coast protects the most combat-ready troops needed for a defense of Havana,"the report —labeled "secret" — states.   

"All essential Cuban command, control, and communications sites are now in hardened bunkers," it says. "Many of the sites are greater than 20 meters [about 65 feet] below the surface, making some too deep to attack with conventional munitions."    

The report notes that the bunker construction was carried out throughout the 1990s despite severe economic problems facing Mr. Castro's communist government.     

"Fidel Castro . . . expects the United States to eventually invade Cuba and attempt to gain control of the government by rapidly capturing the cities of Havana, Matanzas, Holguin and Santiago de Cuba," the report says, noting that half the Cuban military budget since the early 1980s has gone to building the tunnel networks.

"These tunnels are said to house Cuban motorized infantry and tank units whose mission would be to stop or delay landing forces while the rest of the Revolutionary Armed Forces mobilize for war," the report said.   

The plan is to have the underground troops survive bombardment and then emerge "to confront and attack the enemy as it lands on the beaches,"according to DIA.    

Mr. Castro knows some of his bunkered military units would be trapped in the concrete-lined tunnels during U.S. air strikes. But "he is willing to take this risk to gain time to mobilize the country forwar and launch a worldwide propaganda effort to influence public opinion against the attacker," the report says.    

The underground bunkers and tunnels were built with the help of some expert tunnelers — the Vietnamese, North Koreans and former Soviets, the report says. "All of these [Cuban] facilities are extremely difficult to attack with conventional weapons," it said. "Placement and design of the command posts — especially their use of concealment,hardening, and camouflage techniques — are intended to raise the cost of military operations against the island as high as possible for any attacking force."    

Vegetation is used to obscure most entrances. All the facilities are lined with 12-inch-thick, arch-shaped reinforced concrete. However, the facilities are not sealed against chemical or biological weapons, the report said.    

The DIA has identified more than 400 bunkers in Cuba under construction or completed, including underground facilities for the Armed Forces Ministry headquarters, the Interior Ministry headquarters, Communications Ministry headquarters, and the Cuban Communist Party headquarters.    

Most are 60 feet below ground, and several are up to 180 feet below ground.     

 

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Friday, September 15, 2000, updated at 11:23(GMT+8)

Chinese PLA Delegation Leaves for Cuba

A delegation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) left Beijing Friday morning for a visit to Cuba at the invitationof the Cuban armed forces.

The delegation, led by Political Commissar Du Tiehuan of the PLA Beijing Military Area Command, includes Deputy Commander Liu Baochen of the Chengdu Military Area Command and Director Ma Guowen of the Political Department of the Guangzhou Military Area Command.

Senior Chinese officers and Cuban diplomats in Beijing saw the delegation off at the airport.

Copyright 2000 People's Daily Online

 

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Chinese Defense Minister Meets Cuban Guests

Story Filed: Tuesday, June 27, 2000 8:44 AM EST

BEIJING, June 27 (Xinhua)-- Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian met here today with Joaquin Quintas Sola, commander of the central military region of Cuba and his party.

Chi, who is also vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission and a State Councilor, said that China and Cuba, both socialist countries, enjoy deep friendship.

He noted that the relations between the two countries have been continuing to grow in recent years with common efforts from both sides.

Chi said that he is satisfied with the currentsituation in bilateral ties between the armed forces of the two countriesand is positive about the development of the ties in the future.

Chi thanked the Cuban government for its adherence to the "one- China" policy. He said that there is only one China in theworld and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.

The Chinese government still maintains the "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" principles to solve the Taiwan issue, Chi said.

The Chinese government has the greatest sincerity to seek a peaceful reunification, and has also made necessary preparations to resolutely stop the "Taiwan independence" and any activities aimed at separation, Chi said.

He also briefed the guests on China's domesticsituation and China's views on current international situation.

Quintas congratulated China's achievements since the reforms and opening up. He said that China plays a very important role in maintaining world peace.

He said that Cuba and China share the same or similar views on many international issues.

Quintas said that he believes he will be able to learn useful experience from China through his visit.

 

Copyright © 2000, Xinhua News Agency, all rights reserved.

 

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Cuba may intervene in Solomons conflict

EXCLUSIVE

By PAUL DALEY
FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
CANBERRA
Thursday 18 May 2000

The Federal Government has been alarmed by disclosure that the Solomon Islands has asked Cuba to help provide a military solutionto the violent ethnic clashes threatening to engulf the South Pacific nationin civil war.The Solomon Islands Cabinet was briefed last weekon recent negotiations with the regime of Fidel Castro, which is understoodto have indicated willingness to provide a variety of "aid" and "supportmeasures" to help alleviate the Solomons crisis. In return, Cuban officials are believed to be seeking de-facto diplomatic recognition and possible involvement in joint minerals ventures in the Solomons. The disclosures are deeply concerning leading Pacific countries, including Australia, which fear the ethnic clashes could escalate into another Bougainville-style conflict if the Solomons opts for a full-scale military solution. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declinedto comment yesterday. Australian intelligence agencies have been carefully tracking the negotiations between the Solomons and Cuba, since Solomons Foreign Minister, Patterson Oti, attended an economic summit for developing nations in Havana earlylast month.Leading Commonwealth members, includingAustralia,are continuing their efforts to scuttle the negotiations and topersuadethe Solomons that it would not be in the country's "long-term interests" to accept any sort of military, security or aid assistance from the Castro regime.Intelligence sources and regional diplomats told TheAge the Solomons has stepped up talks with Cuba since Australialast weekrejected an explicit request to send police to directly bolsterthe SolomonIslands Police Field Force (SIPFF), which is proving increasinglyineffectualagainst rival militia gangs from Guadalcanal and Malaita. Meanwhile, a senior member of the Solomon Islands Cabinet confirmed the negotiations between his country and Cuba."We are in an increasingly desperate position and when we go to nearby countries, they do not believe how bad things are inthe Solomons," the minister said. "If our big development partners like Australia and New Zealand do not assist us before we fall into the ditch, then we mustlook elsewhere for the appropriate sort of help. We are ready to call onCuba for that help now and Cuba appears willing to listen and to help."He said a ministerial colleague would travel to Havana for official discussions on "a range of mining and resources issues" andabout how "Cuba could help solve some of our more immediate problems".The minister pointed out that while in Havana recently, Mr Oti had said that the Solomons should consider giving diplomatic recognitionto Cuba. An Australian diplomatic source said yesterday thatthe Federal Government was "well aware" that the Solomons was seeking Cubanhelp and had warnedthe Solomons Government "that we do not think it wouldbe a useful path topursue". Last week Australia agreed to spend close to$1 million to expandthe Commonwealth Multinational Police Assistance Group.  Copyright © The Age CompanyLtd 2000.

 

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Publicado el jueves, 18 de mayo de 2000 en El Nuevo Herald

Cuba podría intervenir militarmente en el Pacífico

PABLO ALFONSO
El Nuevo Herald

El gobernante cubano Fidel Castro estaría a punto de embarcarseen una nueva
y alucinante aventura militar, esta vez en las islas del Pacífico Sur, que una vez
fueron escenario de encarnizadas batallas durante la II Guerra Mundial.

``Estamos listos para solicitar la ayuda militar y Cuba parece dispuesta a
escuchar y ayudarnos'', afirmó el miércoles un alto funcionario de las Islas
Salomón, cuyo gobierno negocia la ayuda militar cubana para solucionar un
conflicto étnico que pudiera desembocar en una guerra civil.

La revelación fue hecha por el diario The Age, en Canberra, Australia, el cual
señaló que, además de su participación militar Cuba busca asociarse con
capital de las Islas Salomón para la creación de empresas mineras en esa
región.

El diario dijo que agencias de inteligencia de Australia están siguiendo de cerca
las negociaciones entre Cuba y las Islas Salomón, que cobraron fuerza cuando
su ministro de Exterior, Patterson Oti, visitó La Habana en abril para participar
en la Cumbre Sur.

Fuentes diplomáticas y de inteligencia de Salomón, citadas por The Age,
aseguraron que las conversaciones con Cuba se formalizaron la pasada semana
cuando Australia rehusó participar en el conflicto que Salomón mantiene con
grupos étnicos de las islas vecinas, Guadalcanal y Malaita.

``Si nuestros grandes socios como Australia y Nueva Zelandia no nos ayudan
antes de que caigamos en un abismo, entonces debemos buscar donde sea la
ayuda apropiada'', indicó un alto funcionario de Salomón, citado por The Age.

Añadió que una delegación de Salomón está lista para ir a La Habana y discutir
``un amplio espectro de temas sobre minería y otros recursos'',así como
también ``la forma en que Cuba podría ayudarnos a resolver nuestros problemas
inmediatos''.

Copyright 2000 The Miami Herald / El Nuevo Herald .
Republished here with the permission of the Miami Herald. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written approval of The Miami Herald.

 

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Publicado el lunes, 24 de abril de 2000 en El Nuevo Herald

Raul Castro cree que la `democracia' en Cuba es de un solo partido

EFE
LA HABANA

El ministro de las Fuerzas Armadas de Cuba, Raúl Castro, afirmó ayer que ``nuestra democracia noes perfecta, tenemos que seguirla perfeccionando y con orgullo defendernuestro sistema''.

El segundo en la jerarquía política de la isla hizo esas declaraciones a la televisión cubana a la salida del colegio electoral en el que votó hoy en los comicios municipales.

``Aquí hay un partido y unoo ninguno, pero más de uno no hace falta para representar los intereses de nuestro pueblo. Y por eso tenemos que sentirnos orgullosos de nuestro sistema''.

``Hay quien pretende hacernos creer que la democracia es de dos partidos o diez partidos, olvidándose delo fundamental, el carácter clasista de la democracia'', comentó. ``Como ha dicho Fidel, si aquí existiera otro partido, sería el partido de los yanquis.'' cuyos embriones son todos estos grupúsculos (de oposición), que contados en toda la república no pasan de mil militantes'', dijo.

Copyright 2000 The Miami Herald / El Nuevo Herald .
Republished here with the permission of the Miami Herald. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written approval of The Miami Herald.

 

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Published Sunday, April 16, 2000, in the Miami Herald

Cuban army seen as key to ouster ofCastro

Bay ofPigs vet speaks up

BY DON BOHNING
Miami Herald Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- Thirty nine years later, Erneido Oliva, deputy military commander and hero of the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, sees only a single solution for ridding Cuba of Fidel Castro: a military one.

Oliva is the highest-ranking survivor of the April 17, 1961, Bay of Pigs assault, one of the true milestone events of the Cold War. Nearly four decades later, Oliva spoke with The Heraldin his first extensive interview on the invasion and its aftermath, sayingthat the solution to the Cuba problem lies not in another exile army, butin ``the Cuban armed forces reaching the conclusion that Castro does notoffer anything to the Cuba of the future. . . .

``I don't want to put down the dissidents. I think it's great to have political factions in Cuba, but that will not get rid of Castro. The solution will come from the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.''

Among the observations and revelations he made in the interview, some for the first time:

The issue of what to do with the Brigade members, had the invasion been called off at the eleventh hour, was ``more than a problem. It was a big problem.''

The most overlooked historical aspect of the invasion is how the Brigade members -- mostly young and inexperienced -- performed with mountains of motivation but only limited training.

He concurs with invasion planners that the invasion failed because of the cancellation of air support and the last-minute change in landing site from the city of Trinidad to the isolated Bay of Pigs area, because the Kennedy administration thought it would be easier to conceal U.S. involvement.

He blames the administration of President John F. Kennedy for the failure of the Bay of Pigs, but says he has never felt betrayed, ``only profoundly disappointed with an ally.''

He still considers Kennedy the only president -- excluding Eisenhower -- who did more than talk about getting rid ofCastro by supporting post-Bay of Pigs clandestine operations against Cuba.They included one directly under the late Bobby Kennedy, President Kennedy's brother and attorney general, in which he was involved. The operationswere terminated by President Johnson.

After the invasion, Oliva went on tobecome a major general in the U.S. Army Reserves and deputy commanding officerof the Washington, D.C., National Guard before retiring Jan. 1, 1993. Since his retirement, the 67-year-old former general has remained active in the anti-Castro effort, maintaining his residence in Maryland and largely steering clear of exile politics.

In 1996, he formed the Cuban-American Military Council (CAMCO) to encourage what he sees as the Castro solution: the Cuban Revolutionary Armed forces.

Numbering more than 1,000, CAMCO is open to any Cuban military veteran, whether it be Brigade 2506, the U.S. Army or the Cuban army under Batista or Castro. Oliva has been a member of all four.

CAMCO's focus, with limited private resources, is to reach out through various means to Castro's military and ``convince them we can work together,'' that they have a role in Cuba's future.

``We have said we no longer want to be fighting you, invading you and killing you. There is no war in our repertoire. It's only love and friendship,'' says Oliva.

``When the time comes, I am sure that they [Cuban armed forces] will not point their weapons against the Cuban people. And that time will come . . . when Castro dies a natural death or is gone, the only ones who can really control Cuba and have a peaceful transition are the Cuban armed forces.''

The major problem, says Oliva, is overcoming their fear of what will happen to the Cuban armed forces once Castro is gone and the exiles return.

``Looking at the future, they are still not sure the exiles will protect them or will provide them with the security that they need and that's exactly my message to them. . . .''

As for Brigade 2506 and the invasion, some of Oliva's most revealing comments came in regard to the so-called``disposal problem'' had there been a last-minute decision to call off theinvasion.

It has long been speculated that onereason Kennedy did not call off the invasion was concern over a rebellionby Brigade members in their Guatemala training camps. Oliva confirms thatthere was reason for concern.

``I was gung ho at that time, a guy who really was there in the training, pushing everyone, training young officers, ready to fight,'' recalls Oliva, then age 28 and one of the few professional soldiers in the camps.

If the American advisors had told them to turn in their weapons -- that they were going back to the United States instead of Cuba -- says Oliva, ``I would have called them some bad words and said we are not going anywhere. We are going to fight whoever is inour way. I knew that we could not go to Cuba from there because I didn'thave the means to transport our troops.

``But the problem that we would havecreated in Guatemala would have been so great, Cubans fighting the Guatemalanarmy, taking over Guatemala . . . I can tell you, the men thatI hadunder my command at the time would have done anything that I toldthem to.

``This is something that nobody has ever written about . . . the Americans were the advisers and theywere 15, maybe 20. That would not stop us, because we were the guys withthe weapons . . . We have esprit de corps . . . We wantto fight the communists, whether we fought in Guatemala or wherever.

``I am telling you that the disposalproblem was more than a problem. It was a BIG problem. I think Kennedy madethe right decision to say, hey, let them go to Cuba instead of bringingthem back to Miami.''

So the Brigade sailed for Cuba on April 17 and its disastrous ending -- recounted many times -- came two days later, with 114 Brigade members killed and nearly all the rest captured, Olivaamong them.

Oliva and the other captured Brigademembers returned to a tumultuous December 1962 welcome in Miami's OrangeBowl after the Kennedy administration paid a $53 million ransom of foodand medicine to Castro for their release.

Overlooked in the retellings of the Bay of Pigs saga, says Oliva, is the performance of the young Brigade members ``who enlisted because they had only one motivation, to see a free Cuba. . . . Ninety-nine percent of those who were there knew that Americans were supporting us. We could not fail.

``The Americans never failed before,so we are going to win. I have to risk my life but we are going to win.That was the mentality, motivation of these people. . . .After 39 years, I want for somebody to say, `you Brigadistas did an outstanding job' because they deserve it.''

Oliva blames President Kennedy and his advisors, not the troops on the beach nor the CIA or Pentagon, for theinvasion's failure. That was in part because of a last-minute change inthe landing site from Trinidad, on the south Cuba coast near the Escambray mountains, to isolated Playa Giron on the Bay of Pigs, about 80 miles tothe west. There, it was felt, it would be easier to conceal U.S. involvement.

``The Trinidad site was 400 percent better,'' says Oliva. ``We have a big air strip. . . . We have a huge bay. We have a population that could have joined us. We were close to the Escambray mountains . . . so there you have a source of reinforcement . . . from the population, from the guerrillas that were at that time in the Escambray.

``But they [the Kennedy administration] considered that it was too spectacular; that it would show the involvement of the United States and that's something that they wanted always to hide,'' says Oliva.

``It was naive to try and hide something like that. How could the Cubans ever have been able to mount that type of operation? I don't know what those people were thinking at the time. It was more than naive. It was stupid to think that you can hide the handsof the Americans in something like. . . .''

Still, while he blames the Kennedy administration for the invasion's failure, Oliva refuses to say the invaders were betrayed.

``I was profoundly disappointed in an ally who organized and trained the Brigade but did not fulfill its moral obligations when it felt that its role was discovered and its national interests at risk,'' says Oliva.

But even in the ``darkness of my isolated cells, I never felt betrayed,'' insists Oliva. ``Rather, I felt proud of my accomplishment fighting for a just cause. . . . I wasnot fighting for American interests. I was a Cuban citizen fighting formy native country.''

Oliva still speaks well of Kennedy, compared to other U.S. presidents.

``The others made a lot of promises during their respective political campaigns while running for the presidency,but did nothing when they attained it,'' says Oliva.

Kennedy -- whether motivated by guilt or revenge -- quickly instituted two clandestine anti-Castro operationsafter the Bay of Pigs. One, after the prisoners returned, was directed byhis brother, Bobby, also the attorney general, and involved Oliva and thelate Manuel Artime, civilian commander of the Bay of Pigs Brigade. The otherwas the earlier and better known Operation Mongoose, run by the CIA fromMiami.

Within less than a month after theirDecember 1962 return from Cuban prisons, says Oliva, he and Artime met privatelywith Bobby Kennedy at Kennedy's Hickory Hill estate in Virginia.

The meeting was the genesis for Artime's $6-million program of paramilitary operations against Cuba from Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Oliva was, until the end of the program, in charge of the military side from the United States, serving as liaison with then Secretary of the Army Cyrus Vance and his aide, Alexander Haig.

It was also agreed at the Hickory Hill meeting, said Oliva, to constitute a Cuban unit within the U.S. Army, bringing together all those Cuban-born soldiers, then numbering several thousand, that would eventually work in collaboration with the Artime forces to ``facilitate the liberation of Cuba.''

Oliva says, however, that no new invasion of Cuba was discussed at that time.

The entire program ended a year later, after Kennedy's November 1963 assassination.

Oliva, then undergoing artillery training at Fort Sill, Okla., received a call from Bobby Kennedy in January 1964, asking him to come to Washington. He did. He met Kennedy at the White House. There he told Oliva that he had bad news about the Pentagon program fortraining Cubans in the U.S. armed forces.

``A few minutes later we went to thelibrary, not the Oval Office, and Johnson came in and flatly told me myprogram with the Cubans had to be terminated. Bobby didn't say anything,''remembers Oliva.

``He told me before that he had tried to persuade him . . . he didn't want to try and persuade the president in front of me. So he was only listening, his head bowed. Pretty sad. That was a 15-minute meeting.''

Copyright 2000 The Miami Herald / El Nuevo Herald .
Republished here with the permission of the Miami Herald. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written approval of The Miami Herald.

 

[TOP]

viernes, 31 de marzo 6:21 AM

Militar norteamericano dice que Cubano representa amenaza

MONTEVIDEO, 31 (AP) - El general norteamericano Charles Wilhem, jefe del Comando Sur de los Estados Unidos, sostuvo que Cuba no representa ninguna amenaza militar para su país.

Wilhem formuló declaraciones al abandonar la sede del Congreso, junto al embajador norteamericano Christopher Ashby y otras autoridades donde mantuvieron reuniones con las autoridades legislativas.

``Cuba no representa ninguna amenaza militar para los Estados Unidos y el bloqueo es un tema político que debe resolver el Congreso, donde soy una persona insignificante'', dijo Wilhem ante una pregunta del senador tupamaro Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro, miembro de la Comisión de Defensa.

Wilhem agregó, de acuerdo a loque la prensa, que ``es más, consideraría beneficiosa unacolaboración con Cuba, especialmente en el combate contra el narcotráfico''.

El general Wilhem, cuya base está en Miami, señaló en otros aspectos que en la actualidad los ejércitos deben afrontar otras situaciones: tráfico de drogas, de armas, de personas, corrupción, lavado de dinero y terrorismo.

En este sentido, el general Wilhem destacó la necesidad de ``una cooperación regional para enfrentar estas situaciones''.

 

Copyright © 2000 AP. Todos los derechos reservados.

 



 

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