Russia Today (English-language news channel broadcast from Moscow) - Spotlight: Russia returns to Latin America

A Russian military delegation began their visit to Havana yesterday to review with their Cuban counterparts training and upgrading air defenses on the island.

The visit further reinforces a Russian resurgence while making its presence known in the United States’ own backyard - Latin America.

"Kvadrat" ADM system. Image: NIIP

RIA Volsti reports on Gazeta.ru’s story: “According to the Russian Defense Ministry, this is a planned visit aimed at discussing the maintenance and repair of the Russian-made Igla, Osa, Kvadrat and P-18 and P-19 air defense systems. They are used to protect airfields and longer-range air defense systems, such as S-300 and S-400.  Russian military analysts say Russia is unlikely to limit its assistance to Cuba to repairs of obsolete systems.  Anatoly Tsyganok, head of the Military Forecast Center at the Institute for Political and Military Analysis, said the visit was connected to U.S. missile defense plans for Europe.  Alexander Pikayev, an expert at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, echoes this view:

“Although it will be denied officially, Russia’s actions are clearly a reply to the deployment of U.S. ballistic missile defense systems in the Czech Republic and Poland, and to NATO’s decision to help Georgia restore its air defense system.”

Also, the Swiss International Relations and Security Network takes a look at the resurgence and what it means for Russian and US strategic interests in the hemisphere:

For some Latin American countries, Russia’s return to the continent is a welcome development that limits US dominance. But for others, it bodes ill as they fear deliveries of Russian arms to the region may tilt the military balance, if not lead to a Cold War on the continent.

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ISN Security Watch has an article addressing Cuba’s international relations leverage and foreign investment:

When Russian daily Izvestia reported on 21 July that Russian Tu-160 and Tu-95MS bombers had landed in Cuba, it set off a sprint in Washington as analysts and military leaders struggled to understand the situation.

At first, it appeared that Moscow had made a very serious gesture. Russia’s perceived geopolitical maneuver in Cuba, many thought, was in response to the US’ plans for an anti-missile shield defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

By 24 July, after three days of media hype and speculation over Russia’s true intentions, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Ilshat Baichurin, dismissed any intention for a strategic deployment in Cuba.

Two events quickly followed up this announcement. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin arrived in Cuba on 30 July for extended talks with Raul and Fidel Castro. A former KGB operative and known confidant of now-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Sechin was an active operative during the Cold War and enjoyed a deep relationship with the Castros.

Putin then followed up Sechin’s visit with a 5 August announcement that Russia ought to “restore [its] position in Cuba and other countries.”

Observers agree a military presence in Cuba is not in Moscow’s best interests; rather, closer economic ties would behoove both nations. Sechin’s recent visit underlines the latter observation and coaxes Washington into a more open posture toward Cuba, an island nation the next US presidential administration would likely prefer not to lose again to the Russians. [Read more →]

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