Military Equipment
The Militarization of Cuba by the URSS
Since the early 1960s, the Sino-Soviet alliance began supplying Cuba with vast amounts of weaponry, assistance in restructuring the armed forces, and training for Cuban troops. This enabled the consolidation of communist power over the Cuban population. Between the summer of 1960 and autumn of 1961, the Soviet Union delivered military equipment valued at approximately $100 million. By 1960 alone, 250,000 tons of military equipment reached the island, expanding Cuba's army to 300,000 soldiers, despite a population of only 7 million at the time. This made the Cuban military the most powerful in Latin America.
In 1962, the government introduced food rationing following a sharp decline in agricultural production, marking the beginning of ongoing shortages and the interruption of infrastructure investments, a situation that persists to this day.
By the summer of 1961, nuclear missiles were also being installed on Cuban soil.
Between 1960 and 1989, the USSR supplied Cuba with around 800,000 tons of military equipment, including submarines, radar systems, machine guns, communications gear, bulldozers, transport and combat aircraft, missiles, torpedo boats, rocket launchers, minesweepers, air defense systems, bombs, rifles, anti-tank weaponry, and surface-to-air missiles. From 1960 to 1982, the USSR's military aid to Cuba amounted to $2.5 billion, and between 1983 and 1987, it surged to $6.6 billion.
By 1982, Cuba possessed the second-strongest military in Latin America after Brazil, despite its population being only 10 million compared to Brazil's 120 million. The USSR also established a major espionage base in Lourdes, Cuba.
Cuba's Military Reach and International Presence
In 1987, Cuban troops were stationed worldwide: 25,000 in Angola, 13,000 in Ethiopia, 2,000 in Nicaragua, 300 in South Yemen, and 30 in Grenada. This was complemented by military supplies from China and other socialist countries. Moreover, over 13,000 Soviet troops were stationed in Cuba.
Significant infrastructure developments also supported this militarization. In the Mariel port, powerful cranes, 60,000 cubic meters of covered warehouses, and 75,000 square meters of outdoor storage areas were built. Mariel served as a logistical hub for supplying Nicaragua and Grenada. Other ports, such as Havana, Cienfuegos, and Nuevitas, were also utilized, with a submarine base established in Cienfuegos.
The Grenada Invasion
On October 25, 1983, the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division attacked the island of Grenada, capturing 659 Cubans and killing 60. Documents revealed that the USSR, Cuba, and North Korea had agreed to provide Grenada with $37.5 million in military equipment and training. Cuba was constructing a powerful airport, allegedly for tourism development, but it also aimed to serve as a refueling point for flights to Africa.
Cubana de Aviación, the national airline, conducted six to ten weekly flights to Managua in 1985, often using civilian planes for arms transportation. One such aircraft, the CU-T899, crashed on January 19, 1985, due to a cargo shift, killing 41 people. A similar incident occurred years later with Global Air Flight CU 972 in 2018, raising questions about the nature of the cargo transported.
The Militarization of Cuban Society
Alongside military expansion, Cuba empowered its Ministry of the Interior, making it the most powerful organization in the country. The exponential growth of the military sector coincided with the destruction of agricultural and industrial production. This led to massive unemployment, forcing many into inefficient state enterprises, exile, imprisonment, or the military, eroding the nation’s economic fabric.
This policy has never been reversed. Declassified CIA reports detail the military equipment sent to Cuba and suggest that the U.S. was aware of these developments but refrained from direct intervention.
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Original article in Spanish: ForesightCuba