Cuba Will Not Do the Wagner Waltz

Later the same day, Cuban Foreign Minister said that Cuba prohibits the participation of any of its citizens in any war and that it is totally against mercenarism.   That was news to the approximately one thousand Cubans that are believed to be fighting along Russian troops in Ukraine.

 

Half a century ago, Cuba was willing to send troops 7000 miles from the Caribbean to the southern Africa country of Angola to fight in that country’s civil war on the side of Soviet Union-backed People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola.   Only a decade and a half in power, Castro was eager to show the Soviets he could deliver on-the ground victories.   It was the thick of the Cold War and Castro’s friend Allende had been recently killed in a coup d’etat orchestrated by the United States.  Above all, Cuba owed the Soviet Union.  The decision to send troops to Angola was a no-brainer. 

 

Fast forward to today with Fidel and Raul Castro gone and President Miguel Diaz-Canel attempting to bring Cuba out of its revolutionary image and into the 21st century world of globalization and high technology.   One of his main objectives is to re-establish the Obama détente with the United States.  Within that context, the Cuban government must be careful not to do anything that could be construed as Castro-regime belligerent tactics.  However, still heavily dependent on Russia, Cuba cannot afford to offend Russia.  Thus, the dithering.

 

The Pan American Association of Philadelphia is planning a Conference on Cuba in January 2024.