Cuban Armed Forces Review - In the News

SANTIAGO, Cuba (AP) - Fidel Castro saluted his troops as MiG fighter jets zoomed overhead, just like in the old days. But Cuba's military celebrated its anniversary Sunday with a parade that reflected the diminished firepower of a country once on the Cold War's front lines.

Unlike its martial parades of the 1970s and 1980s, when Communist Cuba was flush with Soviet weapons it pointedly displayed 90 miles from Florida, the Revolutionary Armed Forces marched on its 45th anniversary without tanks, anti-aircraft weapons, mortars or other big guns.

Instead, there were three combat jets and three helicopter gunships that buzzed by as the parade wrapped up with a crescendo from a brass army band. Less than half the 6,040 marchers carried rifles.

The scaled-down ceremony pointed to the shrunken military mission of a country that once supported rebel movements abroad but has been forced to turn inward and nurse its own struggling economy - though its leader has lost none of his revolutionary rhetoric.

``There exists no weapon more potent than profound convictions and clear ideas of what should be done,'' Castro, the commander in chief, said in a speech in this southeastern city before the parade.

``For this type of weapon you don't need fabulous sums of money, only the capacity to create and transmit just ideas and values,'' he said. ``That will make our people more armed than ever.''

Sitting next to the 75-year-old leader was his brother, Gen. Raul Castro, 70, Cuba's Defense Minister and the president's chosen successor. The brothers rarely appear together.

Raul Castro did not speak, but the Communist Party daily Granma quoted him Saturday as saying Cuba is a ``peaceful nation'' that does not need offensive weapons.

For that matter, he said it has acquired no new ones in recent years, and has cut troop strength by tens of thousands. The defense budget has nearly halved since the mid-1980s, he said.

He said Cuba's leadership concluded that masses of heavy weapons ``wouldn't do much in the case of an armed attack,'' and both Castro brothers emphasized the importance of civilians in the island's defense.

In the parade, battalions of government support groups marched with regular troops, reserves, cadets and militia - among them the Federation of Cuban Women, the Federation of University Students, the Cuban Workers Federation and the Pioneers Communist Youth group.

The colorful procession started with machete-wielding men on horseback, wearing white outfits and straw hats with the brims pressed back in the style of Cuban soldiers who fought for independence from Spain.

The military has been shifting its focus to defense in the decade since the Soviet collapse in 1991. The last Cuban units left Africa that year after fighting in Cold War struggles, and Cuban aid to insurgent movements ended in 1992.

Despite its retreat abroad, the military remains one of Cuba's most powerful institutions internally, rooted in the 1959 revolution that overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Active and retired military officers hold more than a quarter of the seats on the Communist Party's ruling Central Committee, and generals run important ministries.

The military has assumed a role bolstering the economy, operating a major tourism company and a construction enterprise that builds hotels with foreign partners. It has also become a major food producer.

Cuba's military dates its founding to Dec. 2, 1956, when 82 revolutionaries who had organized in Mexico landed on the island. Less than two dozen - including the Castros - survived to reach the mountains where their battle was launched.

Troop strength reached a peak of about 300,000 in the early 1960s. The International Institute for Strategic Studies in London estimates there are now 46,000 active troops, as well as 39,000 reservists and a militia of at least 1 million trained take up arms against any U.S. invasion.

Desde La Habana escribe el corresponsal de la BBC, Fernando Ravsberg.

Este 2 de diciembre y por primera vez en 5 años, las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias realizaron un desfile con armamento para celebrar el 45 aniversario de su fundación.

"Si nuestro país fuese agredido e incluso ocupado por fuerzas poderosas, cada hombre o mujer, donde quiera que se encuentren pueden ser un ejercito"

Fidel Castro

La parada militar se realizó en Santiago de Cuba, participaron fuerzas de las 3 armas, las Milicias de Tropas Territoriales y finalizó con escuadrones de aviones de combate y helicópteros artillados.

Antes del desfile, el Presidente Fidel Castro hizo un recuento de la historia de las Fuerzas Armadas desde que apenas eran un pequeño y mal armado grupo guerrillero en las montanas.

Castro afirmó que igual que en aquella época no temen a la superioridad de medios "porque el arma más importante de la Revolución son las ideas".

"Si nuestro país fuese agredido e incluso ocupado por fuerzas poderosas, cada hombre o mujer, donde quiera que se encuentren pueden ser un ejercito" sentenció el primer mandatario.

Los militares abren sus puertas

También por primera vez, la prensa extranjera acreditada en Cuba fue autorizada a visitar varias instalaciones militares, entre ellas, la más importante unidad de tanques, ubicada en las afueras de La Habana.

General Roberto Legrand, Jefe de la Escuela de Oficiales General Antonio Maceo.

"Cada cubano tiene un medio de guerra para defender su terruño", dijo el general Roberto Legrand a la BBC.

Prácticamente no se pudieron ver medios de guerra pero dieron acceso al entrenamiento de las tropas e incluso a un polígono donde se entrenaban con tiro real los tanquistas y sus unidades de apoyo.

Las Fuerzas Armadas cubanas, otrora la más numerosa de Latinoamérica, redujeron el número de efectivos a la mitad debido a la crisis económica que afectó la isla después del derrumbe de la Unión Soviética.

Aún hoy su número exacto se guarda en el más estricto secreto pero, según fuentes norteamericanas, Cuba contaría en la actualidad con más de 150 mil militares en activo.

Todos a las armas

"Para nosotros el número de efectivos de las Fuerzas Armadas no es tan importante", dijo a la BBC el General Roberto Legrand, Jefe de la Escuela de Oficiales General Antonio Maceo.

Soldado cubano.

Fuerzas armadas cubanas en pleno entrenamiento militar.

El General Legrand explicó que Cuba tiene un sistema de defensa en el que, llegado el momento, "cada cubano tiene un medio de guerra para defender su terruño metro a metro".

Cuba cuenta con una milicia organizada por territorios en la que están integrados mas de un millón de civiles con entrenamiento regular y armamento, incluyendo hasta baterías de morteros.

La preparación militar es obligatoria en todos los niveles de enseñanza y abarca desde nociones de defensa contra guerra química y biológica hasta clases de tiro y maniobras sobre el terreno.

Toque femenino

El armamento de las Fuerzas Armadas cubanas es un tanto antiguo dado que no ha sido renovado desde que desapareciera la Unión Soviética pero todavía es uno de los ejércitos mejor armados de la región.

"En nuestro país las mujeres podemos pertenecer a las FF.AA. y ese fue siempre mi sueño", cadete Yatnirros Martínez.

Además, la mayoría de sus oficiales de mando cuentan con experiencia combativa gracias a las guerras libradas en África, donde participaron alrededor de medio millón de cubanos.

Alrededor de un 20% de sus oficiales son mujeres, la mayoría de ellas captadas desde muy jóvenes en los "camilitos", escuelas militares con nivel preuniversitario integradas al sistema nacional de educación.

"En nuestro país las mujeres podemos pertenecer a las Fuerzas Armadas y ese fue siempre mi sueño", dijo a la BBC Yatnirros Martínez, una cadete de 22 anos, coquetamente maquillada a pesar de su uniforme verde olivo.

Por si acaso

Tanque de exhibición.

Cuba contaría en la actualidad con más de 150 mil militares en activo.

Tanto el desfile como el insólito acceso de la prensa extranjera a las unidades militares parecen perseguir un fin preventivo en medio de los aires bélicos que soplan en el mundo.

La Habana continua en la lista de países que, según EEUU, apoyan al terrorismo y por lo tanto se convierte de hecho en un posible objetivo militar de la ofensiva antiterrorista.

Con este despliegue militar las Fuerzas Armadas cubanas parecen querer demostrar que aún se encuentran en plena forma y que en caso de guerra serían un hueso duro de roer.

Cuban Military Fight Economic Battle

SANTIAGO, Cuba (AP) - With the Angolan war long over and their Soviet comrades long gone, Cuban commanders who oversaw tanks and troops on the battlefield now watch over the bottom line.

A past supporter of foreign rebel movements, Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces celebrates its 45th anniversary Sunday focused on the battle for the island's economic health.

Revolutionaries who fought in Cuba's mountains and supported independence battles on Africa's plains now bring military leadership to key parts of Cuba's economy: tourism, sugar, citrus, electronics.

Declaring that the military's mission is now purely defensive, Defense Minister Gen. Raul Castro, President Fidel Castro's younger brother, said in an interview published Saturday in the Communist Party daily Granma that Cuba is ``a peaceful nation'' without offensive weapons.

``That mission is long over,'' Gen. Roberto Legra, director of the Antonio Maceo officers' school, said of the African battles during a rare media tour of the academy outside Havana last week.

``But our overall mission remains the same: to prepare officers to defend the country and to defend the gains of socialism,'' Legra said.

That defense apparently includes ensuring officers not only are able to defend themselves with rifle and machete but also compose a letter and manipulate a computer spreadsheet program.

During the visit, one group of cadets practiced hand-to-combat on a lawn while another sat at rows of computers in a classroom, determinedly copying revolutionary sayings from workbooks.

The armed forces, collectively known as the FAR, are among Cuba's most powerful institutions, rooted in the 1959 revolution that overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista. Active and retired FAR officers hold more than a quarter of the seats on the Communist Party's ruling Central Committee.

Generals run many powerful ministries - defense, interior, transportation and sugar, which is Cuba's most important export crop.

Officers with posts that would go to civilians in most countries were revolutionaries who fought in the late 1950s alongside President Castro and his brother, who is next in the line of presidential succession.

The FAR dates its founding to Dec. 2, 1956, the day when the boat Granma landed 82 revolutionaries who had organized in Mexico. Less than two dozen - including the Castros - survived to reach the mountains where their battle was launched.

Anniversary celebrations include a military parade Sunday in Santiago - the FAR's first in five years. The last such parade, in 1996 in Havana, was smaller than past Soviet-style displays.

The FAR has shrunk considerably since peaking at 300,000 personnel in the early 1960s.

After decades of supporting rebels around the world, the last Cuban units left Africa in 1991 and aid to insurgent movements ended in 1992.

The FAR doesn't release figures on troops and equipment. But it now has an estimated 46,000 servicemen in all branches, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, which studies world armies.

There are also 39,000 reservists and a militia of at least 1 million trained to take up arms against any U.S. invasion - a lingering fear despite the Cold War's end.

Hardware and tactics were emphasized during last week's media visits to the academy, a tank division and a military high school.

But military men now wear business suits as easily as olive green uniforms, operating hotels and a domestic airline as well as the FAR's own construction company, which builds tourist facilities in joint ventures with foreign companies.

Its Youth Labor Army annually produces tons of crops to feed a nation dependent on imported food a decade ago.

``It sounds like they are taking a page out of China's book,'' said Philip Mitchell, an analyst at the London-based institute. ``The Chinese military in the past has been heavily involved in industry and farming.''

Havana, Nov 28, 2001 (EFE via COMTEX) -- The Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) "oppose terrorism and war anywhere in the world," and possess "highly efficient capabilities" to defend the country, according to high-ranking Cuban military officials.

Col. Eliecer Velazquez, commander of one of Cuba's main armored units, told the press that the collapse of the Soviet Union has not reduced the FAR's capabilities.

"We have been able to keep up the technology used in highly aggressive maneuvers," Velazquez said, adding that Cuba's army "consists of 11 million Cubans."

According to Velazquez, the FAR has no plans to invade any country and bases its strategy solely on defending Cuba against an attack.

The colonel said that "the technician is extremely valuable and we defend our country yard by yard," adding that "a Cuban is worth the same as any armored tank."

Velaquez said that "airplanes alone don't win a war, you have to fight on the ground, and Cuba has 11 million rifles."

2001-10-17 17:05 * RUSSIA * PRESIDENT * DEFENSE * BASES *

VLADIMIR PUTIN ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWAL OF TWO RUSSIAN MILITARY FACILITIES FROM VIETNAM AND CUBA

MOSCOW, OCTOBER 17, 2001. /From a RIA Novosti Correspondent./ Vladimir Putin has announced the withdrawal of two Russian military facilities from Vietnam and Cuba, reports the RIA Novosti correspondent.

Summing up today's conference at the Russian Defense Ministry, President Putin said that the decision had been taken to withdraw the Russian military contingent from the Cam Ranh base in Vietnam. The Defense Ministry was instructed to start implementing that decision beginning with January 1, 2002.

Apart from that, said the President, the decision was taken on the withdrawal of the Russian electronic surveillance center in Lourdes, Cuba.

Anatoly Kvashnin, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, told journalists after the conference that the money saved from the withdrawal of the two Russian military facilities could be used for providing the Armed Forces with modern military equipment.

According to the general, the rent of the radar center in Cuba amounts to about 200 million dollars a year. This money could be used for the purchase of 20 reconnaissance and information satellites, as well as about 100 modern radar stations.

The money laid out on the Cam Ranh base in Vietnam could be compared with the maintenance of a modern nuclear-powered submarine, noted Kvashnin.

The general said that the withdrawal of the mentioned military facilities will not affect Russia's defense potential.

Defense Analyst Accused of Spying for Cuba
Woman Passed Classified Information on Military Exercises, FBI Says

By Bill Miller and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, September 22, 2001; Page A01

The Defense Intelligence Agency's senior analyst for matters involving Cuba was arrested at her office yesterday and accused of providing classified information about military exercises and other sensitive operations to the Cuban government.

Federal prosecutors said Ana Belen Montes, 44, of Northwest Washington, was working for the Cuban intelligence service while on the U.S. government payroll. The FBI, which had been tailing Montes for months, surprised her at work yesterday morning at Bolling Air Force Base and charged her with conspiracy to deliver U.S. national defense information to Cuba, a capital offense.

A few hours later, Montes sat silently in U.S. District Court as prosecutors said she "knowingly compromised national defense information" and harmed the United States. A magistrate judge ordered her jailed without bond pending a hearing Wednesday. He also put Montes on a suicide watch at the request of prosecutors.

"This is a clandestine agent for the Cuban intelligence service," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Walutes Jr. "This has been going on for quite some time."

Established 40 years ago, the Defense Intelligence Agency today has more than 7,000 military and civilian employees around the world, with its headquarters at Bolling, in Washington. Its job is to produce military intelligence about foreign countries in support of U.S. planning and operations. One of the DIA's first successes was its role in the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

Montes began work at the DIA in 1985 and was assigned to analyze Cuban matters seven years later. As the DIA's senior analyst for Cuba, Montes would have dealt regularly with Cuba watchers from other agencies in the U.S. intelligence community, most particularly from the CIA and the State Department's Intelligence and Research Bureau.

In a court affidavit, FBI agent Stephen A. McCoy said authorities determined that Montes was passing details "about a particular Special Access Program related to the national defense of the United States." An intelligence source said that probably referred to a highly classified intelligence collection system being employed to gather information either by satellite or other technical or human capability.

Another of her alleged disclosures, the affidavit said, was the identity of a U.S. intelligence officer "who was present in an undercover capacity, in Cuba." Although the Cubans apparently did not arrest the individual, the affidavit indicated that "the Cuban government was able to direct its counter-intelligence resources" against the officer.

At another time, the affidavit said, Montes informed the Cubans that "we have noticed" the location, number and type of certain Cuban military weapons in Cuba. She also allegedly shared information about a 1996 war games exercise.

"This has been a very important investigation, because it does show our national defense information is still being targeted by the Cuban intelligence service," said Van A. Harp, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Washington field office.

A senior intelligence official shared that assessment, saying, "It is very serious." He added that "it is still too early to say how much damage she may have done." The official pointed out, however, that any information received by Cuba then could have been shared with other foreign governments, causing further harm.

A DIA spokesman declined to comment. The agency cooperated in the FBI's investigation. An official at Cuba's diplomatic mission in Washington declined to discuss the case.

Montes, a U.S. citizen born at a U.S. military installation in Germany, is single and lived alone in an apartment in the 3000 block of Macomb Street NW, authorities said. The FBI searched her residence yesterday and also got a warrant to comb through her 2000 Toyota Echo, a safe-deposit box and her office.

Authorities declined to say what led them to focus on Montes or how they believed she became associated with the Cuban government. They said she communicated with her Cuban handlers via shortwave radios, computer diskettes and pagers, methods employed by a Cuban spy ring based in Florida -- known as the Wasp Network -- that attempted to infiltrate Cuban exile organizations and U.S. military installations.

Seven people have been convicted of being part of that organization, including a husband and wife who pleaded guilty yesterday. In charging documents and other court papers, authorities did not directly link Montes to the Florida activities. One law enforcement source said investigators believe Montes began spying in 1996.

According to the FBI's affidavit, the Cuban intelligence service often communicates with overseas agents by broadcasting encrypted messages at high frequencies via shortwave radio. The messages typically are conveyed in a series of numbers and transcribed into Spanish text by a computer program.

The FBI obtained court approval to surreptitiously enter Montes's apartment in May and found a shortwave radio and earpiece as well as a laptop computer, the affidavit said. Agents secretly copied the computer's hard drive and restored text that had been deleted, providing the foundation for many of the allegations, the document added.

Since May, agents have followed Montes as she made brief calls on pay telephones outside the National Zoo, gas stations and other locations in Northwest Washington and Maryland, apparently sending encrypted messages to pagers, the affidavit said. But the affidavit makes no mention of any occasions in which Montes was observed meeting with any suspected accomplices, making drop-offs or picking up money.

Before joining the DIA, Montes worked in the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy in the early 1980s. She is a 1979 graduate of the University of Virginia and received a master's degree in 1988 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Montes lived on the second floor of a three-story cooperative building in Cleveland Park. Neighbors said she had resided in the building at least seven or eight years and described her as friendly if quiet.

Neighbors said there was nothing unusual about Montes's habits, and they had no idea she had been arrested. The people they thought were Montes's visitors yesterday afternoon were actually FBI agents, who were observed eating pizza in her apartment.

One resident said he had been working with Montes on projects in the building, including improving the mailboxes. Another said Montes once was president of the co-op board. She was known to work for the federal government, but neighbors said she never talked in detail about her job. After the attack on the Pentagon last week, a neighbor said, he sent her an e-mail and got an emotional response.

"Right now, I'm not in the mood to talk," she wrote back, saying she was distraught about the terrorists' assault.

Another neighbor, Gretchen Gusich, said Montes let her use her unit this week when Gusich's bathroom had plumbing problems, even leaving a key with her.

"She was a good neighbor," Gusich said.

Staff writers David A. Fahrenthold and Martin Weil and Metro researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

HAVANA, September 18 (José Antonio Fornaris, Cuba-Verdad / CubaNet) - After last week's terrorist attacks against targets in the United States, no active duty military personnel have been seen on the streets of Havana. Apparently they have been called to report to their units.

The government-controlled news media has emphasized that "the winds of war are blowing in Washington" and that "the United States wants to drag humanity into a confrontation."

Independent journalist Juan Carlos Linares said a military source told him that the system of national defense was activated immediately after the attacks on New York and Washington.

Also, Linares said, someone in a leadership position in the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) said that the evacuation plans for minors, the handicapped and the elderly had been activated. The CDRs are in charge of, among other things, civil defense.

It wasn't immediately clear whether armed forces personnel in other Cuban provinces had been placed on alert.

Cuban General Tomassevich Dies

HAVANA (AP) - Gen. Raul Menendez Tomassevich, who fought with Fidel Castro's rebels in the late 1950s and went on to become a top military leader, died Friday.

Cuban state media reported his death. His exact age was not given, but he was in his early 80s.

While in the rebel army that eventually triumphed over the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959, Menendez Tomassevich reached the rank of commander of an important eastern front named for the revolutionary hero Frank Pais.

Known as ``Tomas'' to his friends, Menendez Tomassevich fought at the Bay of Pigs against an invading army of CIA-backed exiles in 1961, and was an important commander of Cuban troops in Angola two decades later.

He was a founding member of the Communist Party of Cuba and served on its Central Committee for 25 years. He also served for many years as a member of the National Assembly.

Burial was scheduled for Friday in the Revolutionary Armed Forces section of the Colon Cemetery. No information was immediately available on his survivors.

En la noche de ayer arribó al aeropuerto internacional José Martí una delegación de alto nivel del Ejército Popular de Liberación de China, presidida por el comisario político de la Fuerza Aérea, teniente general Qiao Qingchen.

En la terminal aérea capitalina fueron recibidos por el general de brigada José Carrillo Gómez y el GB (r) Moisés Sio Wong, presidente de la Sociedad de Amistad Cuba-China, así como por otros jefes y oficiales de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias y representantes de la misión diplomática del hermano país asiático.

La delegación, que permanecerá en nuestro país hasta el próximo día 14, cumplirá un amplio programa de visitas a unidades militares, lugares de interés histórico, cultural y social, como parte de los intercambios sistemáticos dirigidos a continuar estrechando los lazos de amistad y colaboración entre los dos pueblos y sus fuerzas armadas.

HANOI — Prime Minister Phan Van Khai on Thursday welcomed the visit of a senior Cuban military delegation as a valuable opportunity for the armed forces of both countries to learn from each other’s experiences in national defence.

He told delegation leader Senior Lieutenant Alvaro Lopez Miera, chief of the General Staff of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, that the visit would contribute to strengthening the traditional ties of friendship and co-operation between the two countries.

Vietnamese and Cuban armed forces had shared the same trenches in the fight against foreign aggressors, the prime minister said, adding that some Cuban youth had volunteered to fight alongside their Vietnamese comrades in the American War, and sacrificed their lives in doing so.

Khai also recalled the Viet Nam visit by Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruz who had travelled to the battlefield in Quang Tri Province at the height of the American War.

He asked Alvaro to convey his best wishes to President Fidel Castro and the Cuban Defence Minister General Raul Castro.

Alvaro told Prime Minister Khai that he was very pleased with concrete results obtained in talks with the Vietnamese National Defence Ministry. The delegation had visited several army units and toured the famous underground tunnel network of Cu Chi in HCM City.

He expressed his happiness on witnessing the achievements recorded by the Vietnamese people in their pursuit of the doi moi process. He said the armed forces of both nations, who had once stood side by side in the fight against foreign imperialists, would now help each other again by exchanging experiences in building up the armed forces to successfully defend the nation. — VNS

El General de Ejército Raúl Castro, Segundo Secretario del Partido y Ministro de las FAR, presidió este domingo el acto político y ceremonia militar por el aniversario 40 del Ejército Occidental que tuvo lugar en una gran unidad de tanques de ese mando.

El surgimiento de esa fuerza el 14 de junio, fecha en que nacieron Maceo y Che, su papel y misión de estar siempre listos para repeler una agresión armada del enemigo y combatir también en la batalla de ideas, fue expuesta por su jefe, el general de cuerpo de ejército Leopoldo Cintra Frías, también miembro del Buró Político.

El general de cuerpo de ejército Leopoldo Cintra Frías expresó la disposición a estar siempre listos en prevención de un ataque enemigo.

Uno de los fundadores del Ejército Occidental, el general de brigada Angel Alfonso Corona, en representación de sus compañeros de armas, destacó la trayectoria comprometida y ejemplar de ese gran colectivo militar y aseguró que la actitud presente y futura de los combatientes seguirá siendo la misma como digno homenaje a los mártires y héroes surgidos de su seno y de lealtad sin límites al Comandante en Jefe y al Ministro de las FAR.

El general de división Leonardo Andollo, segundo jefe del Estado Mayor General, dio lectura a la felicitación de Raúl en la que se expresa que el potencial defensivo alcanzado en estas cuatro décadas, la experiencia acumulada, el adiestramiento y la voluntad demostrada por los combatientes en la preparación para librar la guerra de todo el pueblo, aseguran que la defensa de la dirección estratégica principal está garantizada.

En la jornada conmemorativa hablaron también el capitán Roberto de Jesús Morales Bassat y la camilita Zailín Espinosa López, quienes hicieron el compromiso de la nueva generación en ser continuadores de las tradiciones patrióticas y combativas del Ejército Occidental.

Como parte del acto, el Comandante de la Revolución Juan Almeida Bosque entregó diplomas de reconocimiento a quienes han ocupado la jefatura de este mando, entre ellos, su fundador, el Comandante de la Revolución Guillermo García Frías, el general de cuerpo de ejército Joaquín Quintas Solá y los generales de división Ulises Rosales del Toro, Samuel Rodiles Planas y Ramón Pardo Guerra. También se le hará entrega al general de división Pedro García Peláez.

La jornada contó, igualmente, con la presencia de jóvenes y consagrados artistas que con sus interpretaciones patrióticas brindaron solemnidad a la actividad.

Con una revista militar en la que intervinieron bloques representativos de las tropas regulares, la reserva, Camilitos, las MTT, la PNR, concluyó esta jornada de homenaje y reconocimiento a este ejército punta de vanguardia del pueblo uniformado.

El potencial defensivo alcanzado por esta fuerza, la experiencia acumulada, la destreza y voluntad demostrados por los combatientes en su preparación para librar la guerra de todo el pueblo si fuera necesario, permiten afirmar que la defensa de la dirección estratégica principal está garantizada, subrayó el ministro de las FAR en su mensaje

El General de Ejército Raúl Castro, ministro de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, presidió este domingo el acto político y ceremonia militar en ocasión del aniversario 40 del Ejercito Occidental.

WASHINGTON -- A top State Department official said Tuesday that the Chinese government has been delivering military equipment to Cuba.

James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, confirmed the deliveries in response to a question during a hearing of a House subcommittee.

"We are very much concerned with this PLA (People's Liberation Army) cooperation and movement of military equipment in Cuba," Kelly said.

Kelly offered no other details and said he needed more information before commenting further.

The issue arose in response to an article in The Washington Times, which said three arms shipments have been sent from China to the Cuban port of Mariel in the last several months.

All the arms were aboard vessels belonging to the state-owned China Ocean Shipping Co., the account said, citing U.S. intelligence officials.

Asked by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., whether the Bush administration would "grovel" in the face of the Chinese action, Kelley said it would not.

Cuba and China have been forging closer ties in the recent past, symbolized by the April visit to Havana by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. At the time, Chinese officials said the relationship had never been better. The two countries were not close during the Cold War.

Last December, Cuba and China signed an agreement to increase military cooperation but no specifics were announced.

The agreement was signed by Gen. Fu Quanyou, a top general for the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and Gen. Alvaro Lopez, a deputy minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

At least three arms shipments were traced from China to the Cuban port of Mariel over the past several months. All the arms were aboard vessels belonging to the state-owned China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco), according to U.S. intelligence officials.

Intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said details of the arms shipments are sketchy but all involved a "known Chinese arms dealer" who arranged the transfers.

One of the cargoes was described as dual-use explosives and detonation cord. The explosives were said to be "military-grade" material.

The latest shipment took place in December. That arms delivery coincided with the visit to Cuba in late December by China´s military chief of staff, Gen. Fu Quanyou. Gen. Fu signed a military cooperation agreement with Havana aimed at modernizing Cuba´s outdated Russian weapons.

The arms shipments to Cuba could lead to the imposition of economic sanctions on China and Cosco, according to U.S. officials.

A 1996 amendment to the 1962 Foreign Assistance Act requires that economic sanctions be imposed on any nation or company that provides lethal military assistance to a nation designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. Cuba is on the State Department´s list of nine nations designated as supporters of global terrorism.

Sanctions would disrupt a major portion of the U.S.-Chinese shipping market controlled by Cosco, whose business lines include port terminals and warehousing, insurance, real estate and hotel management.

Cuba has been increasing its ties to China in recent months. In April, Chinese President Jiang Zemin traveled to Havana and signed agreements worth about $400 million in loans to Havana.

Other Chinese activities in Cuba include electronic eavesdropping on the United States and Chinese government radio broadcasting, according to U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports. China also recently agreed to modernize Cuba´s telecommunications network.

A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the arms shipments. Spokesmen for Cosco could not be reached for comment.

Wei Jiafu, Cosco group president and chief executive officer, told reporters and editors of The Washington Times on June 2 that the shipping line has no connection to the Chinese military and is only interested in
making money.

Mr. Wei insisted during the interview that the People´s Liberation Army had no influence on the company´s operations or global business strategy.

However, the shipper´s only shareholder is the Chinese government.

Mr. Wei and other Cosco officials were in the United States to meet port officials in Massachusetts, where they had reached an agreement with the Massachusetts Port Authority to begin a weekly shipping service between Shanghai and Boston beginning next year.

Cosco has been linked in the past by U.S. intelligence agencies to illegal smuggling and international arms trafficking.

James Mulvenon, a China analyst with the RAND Corp., said that the Chinese Communist Party´s military organ approved establishment of Cosco as an arm of the Chinese navy in 1985.

Mr. Mulvenon stated earlier this year, in his book "Soldiers of Fortune," that Cosco´s establishment "legitimized the use of navy ships for civilian shipping and thus provided a legal cover for the navy´s smuggling."

The Chinese navy was linked in 1985 to illegal smuggling in foreign cars, vans, TVs and VCRs out of Hainan island in the South China Sea, he wrote.

In 1998, U.S. intelligence agencies tracked a Cosco freighter from Shanghai to Karachi, Pakistan, with a load of weapons-related goods, including specialty metals and electronics used in the production of
Chinese-designed Baktar Shikha anti-tank missiles.

The shipment was carried aboard a vessel owned by the company subsidiary Cosco Tianjin.

The arms transfers by Cosco ships contradict statements to Congress made in 1997 by National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger, who told senators there was no credible evidence linking Cosco to illegal activity, including arms smuggling.

Edward Timperlake, a former House committee investigator, said a Cosco executive was among a group of Chinese officials who were granted access to the White House and to Mr. Clinton´s weekly radio address in 1995 -- days after Democratic Party fund-raiser Johnny Chung made a large payment to the White House for the president´s re-election campaign.

The visit was checked by White House National Security Council aide Robert Suettinger, who wrote in a memorandum that giving White House photographs to the group of Chinese officials and Chung, who in 1998 pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions, would not cause "any lasting damage to U.S. foreign policy."

Mr. Suettinger, who described Chung as a "hustler," also stated in a White House memo: "And to the degree it motivates him to continue contributing to the [Democratic National Committee], who am I to complain," Mr. Suettinger said.

"Cosco is the merchant marine arm of the PLA Navy," Mr. Timperlake said. "If the Chinese military ever mobilized troops for action against Taiwan, Cosco would be part of the operation."

Cosco ships would provide arms and logistics support for Chinese military operations, U.S. officials said.

Al Santoli, a national security aide to Rep. Dana Rorhabacher, said Cosco is well-known for worldwide support of Chinese weapons sales.

La creación hace 40 años del Ministerio del Interior abrió, sin duda, una página en la historia de nuestra Revolución que, desde sus mismos inicios, comenzó a escribirse bajo el fragor impostergable de una batalla sin tregua posible a base de audacia, inteligencia, tenacidad, valentía, sacrificio y sangre.

Las raíces de esta extraordinaria fuerza están en las más puras y hermosas tradiciones de lucha cubanas, en el pueblo mismo que es su cantera, sustento y razón de ser. Desde los días de Martí y la preparación de la guerra necesaria a hoy, las lecciones de esa epopeya están ahí con su enseñanza y renuevo permanente a tenor con los tiempos que se viven, forjando, muchas veces en el anonimato cotidiano y fecundo, la coraza invicta que protege la unidad, los principios, la obra y la victoria.

Nacidas bajo los apremios de una contienda contra un Goliat prepotente y con una secular avidez por anexarse esta tierra vecina, las fuerzas del Ministerio del Interior alcanzaron temprana madurez enfrentando las acciones del imperialismo yanki, la gusanera interna y la prohijada en Miami en un singular cruce de armas en la cual el derroche de tecnología, recursos y dinero no ha podido vencer el poder de los ideales de un pueblo pequeño y pobre, más fuerte y unido.

La historia de esta Revolución es harto elocuente en ejemplos que dan la magnitud de tal enfrentamiento y de las victorias conquistadas cuando desde fechas muy tempranas al triunfo de Enero de 1959 se detectaron, penetraron y aniquilaron los grupos contrarrevolucionarios, las bandas de alzados, se detuvo la quinta columna que apoyaría la invasión de Girón, hasta llegar a las mismas entrañas de la CIA, descubrir y neutralizar todos los intentos por asesinar al Comandante en Jefe, proteger la inviolabilidad de nuestro archipiélago, como también la extraordinaria contribución en las misiones internacionalistas cubanas en Angola y Etiopía, por citar algunos ejemplos relevantes.

En los días heroicos que vivimos, los combatientes del MININT están también inmersos en tareas complejas de su perfil como son la lucha contra el terrorismo contrarrevolucionario alentado por los extremistas de la mafia miamense, el combate contra el narcotráfico y la preservación de la tranquilidad ciudadana como una de las grandes conquistas sociales de la Revolución y de la cual ellos son, junto al pueblo, artífices y hacedores.

En esas direcciones estratégicas trabajan y los resultados se palpan, aún cuando el propósito sigue siendo la elevación permanente de la eficacia y la eficiencia adoptando nuevas estructuras de trabajo, empleando al máximo de nuestras posibilidades la ciencia y la técnica y, por supuesto, desarrollando la inteligencia y la sagacidad para enfrentar complejas situaciones y la preparación profesional y política de las fuerzas, factores que han sido clave en los éxitos de esta institución en estos cuatro decenios.

En las filas del MININT se han formado generaciones de jóvenes que han sabido cumplir las más disímiles tareas con audacia y sencillez. De ellos han surgido valiosos cuadros; no solo para la línea de mando y de pensamiento operativo, sino también científicos con resultados relevantes para la labor del Ministerio y para la vida económica y social del país. También ha dado destacados artistas, intelectuales y deportistas.

En todo este heroico quehacer de 40 años ha estado presente siempre la brújula del Partido y Fidel. Esa enseñanza no solo resulta legado, es, ante todo, ejercicio permanente de disciplina y lealtad, conducta y capacidad de acción.

Todo esa historia viva está presente en la batalla de ideas que libramos hoy porque entre nosotros andan sus protagonistas que siguen haciendo futuro.

No hay obra de la Revolución por pequeña que sea en la cual no esté presente el prestigio, el ejemplo, la autoridad y la capacidad de acción de los combatientes del Ministerio del Interior.

A todos ellos va dirigido nuestra felicitación y confianza renovada. La Revolución es nuestra y juntos la seguimos defendiendo, pues en suma somos el pueblo en el poder.

Feds Say Fidel Is Hacker Threat

WASHINGTON -- These must be jittery times for anyone in the military who uses the Internet.

Not only do they have to guard against Love Bug worms and security holes in Microsoft Outlook -- now they've got to worry about Fidel Castro hacking into their computers.

Admiral Tom Wilson, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, says the 74-year-old communist dictator may be preparing a cyberattack against the United States.

Wilson told the Senate Intelligence Committee during a public hearing Wednesday that Castro's armed forces could initiate an "information warfare or computer network attack" that could "disrupt our military."

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked in response: "And you would say that there is a real threat that they might go that route?"

Replied Wilson: "There's certainly the potential for them to employ those kind of tactics against our modern and superior military."

He said that Cuba's conventional military might was lacking, but its intelligence operations were substantial.

The partly classified hearing is an annual event -- and an important one: It represents this year's World Threat Assessment discussion. That's a chance for the intelligence committee to set its agenda for this session of Congress and hear from senior intelligence officials about the latest national security threats.

In addition to the aging president of Cuba, witnesses and senators both cited encryption as another technology-related threat during a far-ranging discussion that also encompassed nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the committee's hawkish chairman, said that the classified hearing later in the day would "explore the challenges posed by, among others, the proliferation of encryption technology, the increasing sophistication of denial and deception techniques, the need to modernize and to recapitalize the National Security Agency, and other shortfalls in intelligence funding."

Shelby has been a vehement opponent of any proposal to remove encryption export regulations. In 1998, he said "the effects on U.S. national security must be the paramount concern when considering any proposed change to encryption export policy."

He is currently the co-chair of the Congressional Privacy Caucus. Last week, Shelby sent out a press release saying, "Personal privacy is one of the most important issues that we must confront in the new world of the information economy."

At the January 1998 World Threat Assessment hearing, the talk also turned to encryption. "I don't want to tell some father that we've lost a child because we couldn't break the telephone conversation or we couldn't get to a storage disk or something like that," FBI deputy director Bob Bryant told the panel at the time. "And that's all we're saying."

Also warning of the dangers of encryption products, which let users shield communications from prying eyes, was CIA Director George Tenet, who has frequently spoken out against the technology in the past.

Tenet testified that terrorists such as Osama bin Laden are now using the Internet and encryption to cloak communications within their organizations. "So, you know, you recruit people on Internet sites, and you use encryption," Tenet said. "You move your operational planning and judgments over Internet sites' use of encryption. You raise money."

His comments come as a series of newspaper articles have highlighted how bin Laden allegedly uses encryption -- and a variant of the technology, called steganography -- to evade U.S. efforts to monitor his organization.

Tenet said that bin Laden "and his global network of lieutenants and associates remain the most immediate and serious threat" to America.

And what about Castro? It might seem odd to view a country best known for starving livestock, Elian Gonzalez and acute toilet paper shortages as a looming threat, but the Pentagon seems entirely serious.

The DIA's Wilson said: "Cuba is, Senator, not a strong conventional military threat. But their ability to ploy asymmetric tactics against our military superiority would be significant. They have strong intelligence apparatus, good security and the potential to disrupt our military through asymmetric tactics."

Asymmetric tactics is military-ese for terrorist tactics when your opponent has a huge advantage in physical power.

Shortly after those comments, Shelby adjourned the hearing until the afternoon, when it resumed behind closed doors.

This week's drumbeat of criticism about encryption and steganography from within Washington's national security circles may hint at congressional efforts to impose additional restrictions on the technologies. President Clinton relaxed -- but did not remove -- rules governing the export or Internet distribution of encryption products.

PABLO ALFONSO

El ``número 2'' se alista para tomar el poder

El diario Granma ofreció el pasado miércoles una información que ha llamado poderosamente la atención de los analistas políticos de la cuestión cubana.

En un reportaje de primera plana, firmado por la periodista Marta Cabrales Arias, el órgano oficial del Partido Comunista de Cuba da cuenta del discurso resumen pronunciado por el Ministro de las Fuerzas Armadas, general de Ejército Raúl Castro, en el acto celebrado en Holguín con motivo del análisis del Año de Preparación para la Defensa en el Ejército Oriental.

Hasta aquí toda la información es rutinaria. El artículo habla de los acostumbrados logros en la preparación combativa, el fortalecimiento de la disciplina militar, el estado de la calidad y condiciones de vida del personal, bla, bla, bla...

La noticia, sin embargo, está al final del reportaje. Dicha como algo sin importancia. Ni siquiera se le confiere esa categoría de noticia. Es sólo una mención, que ahora comparto con los lectores de esta columna:

``Acompañaron al Ministro de las FAR los miembros del Buró Político, general de cuerpo de ejército Ramón Espinosa, jefe del mando oriental, y Jorge Luis Sierra Cruz, primer secretario del Partido en Holguín'', junto a otros jefes militares, dijo Granma.

Se trata de un ascenso no anunciado: El General de Cuerpo de Ejército, Ramón Espinosa. Hasta ahora la prensa cubana no había dicho una sola palabra al respecto. ¿Es este el único ascenso de esa categoría no anunciado o existen otros?

Hasta ahora en Cuba sólo existía un general de Cuerpo de Ejército. Ese grado era exclusivo del actual ministro del Interior, Abelardo Colomé Ibarra, alias Furry. Al igual que el grado de General de Ejército es exclusivo de Raúl Castro.

Según ex oficiales de Inteligencia de Cuba, el ascenso de Espinosa podría estar relacionado con futuros cambios en los altos mandos del aparato militar cubano. Tales cambios, de acuerdo con las fuentes, tendrán lugar en el momento en que Raúl Castro asuma las riendas del gobierno, tras la desaparición de Fidel Castro algo a lo que, por cierto, se ha referido recientemente el propio Raúl.

Como hombre de confianza de Raúl, el Furry parece ser un candidato de primer orden para sustituirlo al frente del Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas. Por la misma razón, cuando Raúl herede el trono totalitario castrista, Espinosa es un buen candidato para tomar las riendas del Ministerio del Interior.

La movida, según analistas de inteligencia, forma parte de los discretos preparativos que están llevándose a cabo en el seno de las Fuerzas Armadas.

Espinosa, de 61 años, no carece de credenciales para el cargo. En los años de la intervención militar castrista en Angola desempeñó altos cargos en el aparato represivo cubano en ese país.

En el último Congreso del Partido Comunista, celebrado en octubre de 1997, fue nombrado miembro del Buró Político, atendiendo a su alta jerarquía militar al frente del importante Ejército de Oriente.

Graduado en Ciencias Militares en la Academia del Estado Mayor de la Unión Soviética, el flamante General de Cuerpo de Ejército es también diputado a la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular y posee el título de Héroe de la República de Cuba.

Es posible que el ascenso de Espinosa haya sido acompañado de otros semejantes en los mandos militares. Pero en Cuba, ya lo sabemos, las noticias importantes sólo se publican en los medios oficiales cuando el gobierno lo considera necesario.

Castro Salutes Troops on Anniversary

Cuban Military Fight Economic Battle

Cuban General Tomassevich Dies

Feds Say Fidel Is Hacker Threat

PABLO ALFONSO

El ``número 2'' se alista para tomar el poder