[CubaNews] PRAVDA: Russia may eventually retrieve its military presence in Cuba and Vietnam

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Russia may eventually retrieve its military presence in Cuba and Vietnam
05.08.2008 	Source: Pravda.Ru 	URL:
http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/105998-russia_cuba-0

Russian army bases in Cuba may still become a reality. Colonel-General
Leonid Ivashov, the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Sciences,
stated Monday that the retrieval of the Russian military presence in Cuba
may become a real response to the ongoing increase of the US military and
political pressure on Russia.

?It is an open secret that the West has been establishing a buffer zone
around Russia during the recent years, getting European, Baltic states,
Ukraine and the Caucasus involved in the process. The expansion of the
Russian military presence abroad, particularly in Cuba, could become a
response to US-led activities,? RIA Novosti quoted Ivashov as saying.

Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council,
made a work visit to Cuba on July 30-31 and held meetings with Cuban
ministers for defense and internal affairs.

Leonid Ivashov said that Patrushev?s visit to ?the island of freedom? was
made to discuss the forms of Russia?s possible military presence on the
island.

?There are convenient bays for reconnaissance and battleships and a network
of so-called forward staging posts in Cuba. We can resume the operation of
the radar center in Lourdes upon the agreement of the Cuban administration.
A shipment of new radar equipment will be necessary for it, though,? Ivashov
said.

The official also emphasized the importance for the Russian administration
to modernize a technical support center for vessels of the Russian Navy in
Syria?s Tartus port. To crown it all, Ivashov did not rule out a possibility
to resume talks with Vietnam regarding a possibility for Russia to deploy
its battleships in Cam Ran port.

Leonid Ivashov chaired the department for international defense cooperation
of Russia?s Defense Ministry in 1996-2001.

Former commander of Russia?s Black Sea Navy, Eduard Baltin, also said that
there are convenient bases in Cuba, where Russian ships could be based. ?It
is technically possible, although there is no strategic need in it today,?
the admiral said.

The Russian radio intercept center was operating in Cuba until 2002. The
center was officially called the Russian Electronic Center in Lourdes. The
center allowed to intercept the data transmitted from US communication
satellites, ground-based telecommunication cables and even messages from
NASA?s center in Florida. The base was closed in October 2001. The annual
rent for the use of the base in Lourdes reportedly made up $200 million.

Russia?s largest overseas navy base was liquidated in 2002. The agreement
signed between Russia and Vietnam in 1981 stipulated the use of two berths
for Russian battleships and submarines, about 30 warehouses and a runway for
all kinds of planes.

Cam Ran used to play the key role in the plans of the Russian Navy, because
it was the only base that was capable of providing the presence of Russian
vessels in the Indian Ocean and in the Persian Gulf area. The annual rent
made up $300 million.

The technical support center for the Russian Navy in Syria?s Tartus still
operates free of charge.

    © 1999-2006. «PRAVDA.Ru». When reproducing our materials in whole or in
part, hyperlink to PRAVDA.Ru should be made. The opinions and views of the
authors do not always coincide with the point of view of PRAVDA.Ru's
editors.

=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
========================================= 



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