Top Russian and Cuban military huddle in Havana

[cal04]

Cuban Defense Minister Raul Castro has met in Havana with Russia's second-ranking military officer, official media said on Thursday, in a throwback to the Cold War when Cuba was armed and financed by the Soviet Union. The chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, Army Gen Yuri Baluyevsky, arrived on Monday for a two-week visit. Baluyevsky's delegation is the highest-ranking to visit Cuba since 1998. The trip comes amid an increase in Cuban defense spending and concerns over the U.S. military posture after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The entire front page of the Communist party daily, Granma, was taken up with a photo of Wednesday's meeting and commentary describing the encounter as one between old friends. "The conversation between the two military leaders was cordial and friendly, with both recognizing the historic ties between their two countries," Granma said. Baluyevsky is touring military units and installations equipped with vintage Soviet hardware and was expected to vacation on the island as well. The Cuban economy has been recovering from a more than decade-long crisis during which the military budget was cut by at least 50 percent, according to the government.

But defense spending has steadily risen since 2003, as always-tense relations between the Communist nation and the United States deteriorated further. Cuba has expressed alarm over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and President George W. Bush's doctrine of preventive strikes. Diplomats said Russia had been supplying some spare parts, and little else, to the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, but that could change if Cuba re-entered the arms market in earnest.
Russia recently sold 100,000 AK-47 automatic rifles and other equipment to Venezuela, Cuba's closest ally.

Top Chinese military officials also visited Cuba this year. "I feel that we are duty-bound to maintain friendly relations with Cuba and not to abandon it at a difficult time for this country," Baluyevsky told the Russian news agency Itar-Tass on Monday. "Contacts in the military field will be given new meaning."

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-12-29T152453Z_01_SIB954982_RTRUKOC_0_US-CUBA-RUSSIA.xml&archived=False

[donsu]

1. everyone is fearful of what the power hungry bushgang will do next

and are trying to protect their countries assets from the gang.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. For good reason

they just busted a bunch of Bay of Pigs alumni down in So FL, who in the words of the judge, the machine guns, grenades, grenade launcher, detonation devices and thousands of rounds of ammunition seized in the case amounted to "everything you need to carry out a bloodbath."

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051210/NEWS/512100368/1004

[sasha031]

6. that is amazing

when these crazies are in their 90's with their arthritis, walkers and transplants they will still be planning a coup in Cuba, don't they get tired.

[MrPrax]

2. Nice journalism...

Hits all the points:

"in a throwback to the Cold War when Cuba was armed and financed by the Soviet Union."

oh yeah...thx for the reminder in the second line...commie hoards up to no good.
Mind you, if Bush mets with the Chinese, it isn't "a throwback to the Nixon era" or if Rummy hangs in Germany, it isn't "a throwback to Checkpoint Charlie". We make history, of course, never re-tread it like those guys.

"Russia recently sold 100,000 AK-47 automatic rifles and other equipment to Venezuela, Cuba's closest ally."
Ah wouldn't be good alarmist propaganda if "our friends in Venezuela" weren't mentioned.

Might have hit into a triple if he mentioned Bolivia and a grandslam if he linked it to Al Queda a la Jeffrey Goldberg...

[Oceansaway]

3. K & R...n/t

[donkeyotay]

4. but, I thought the preznit's job was keeping us safe?

So Russia, China and Cuba - among others - are increasing their military spending and forging new alliances all because Commander Coconuts ran around threatening world peace? What a brilliant strategist! Mission accomplished... well, maybe if your goal was to push the world into another round of the arms race so you could enrich your military-contractor buddies and increase their control. It's hard to understand how Mercans who are one step away from a draft and one misstep away from national bankruptcy think these guys work for us.

[Toots]

7. Bush* is Uniting the world.....against his Administration

Bush* may very well be the Uniter he claimed to be......