Can Cuba save Russia from US missiles?

One can say that Vladimir Putin's visit to Latin America has become one of the major events of 2014. Russia is returning to this region. It is in the interests of the Russian Federation to expand economic ties with Latin America and create a military alliance. Military analyst, expert on international security Victoria Legranova shared her views on the subject with Pravda.Ru.

"What has ​the visit brought in terms of political and military cooperation with the countries of Latin America?"

"First of all, in my opinion, the economic cooperation has been expanding, and this will become the locomotive for military-political and technological cooperation. Our military and political leadership sees the region as a platform for expanding the economic potential of the Russian Federation to strengthen international relations that are very necessary and valuable.

In the future, if the situation develops unfavorably in terms of international security, this may serve as a basis to counter the United States. Military-technical cooperation will strengthen the work on interoperability. It was stated that Russia was making a comeback to Cuba. This is a very important significant sign that says that we are moving away from the idealist position that was before."

"What kind of idealist position was it? And what is it like now?"

"It's no secret that we were accepting all decisions of the West and the United States. We fully accepted their position in the field of nuclear forces and the whole complex of security: nuclear forces, air force, ground, ground-based, sea-based forces. During the 1990s, we refused from mines. We completely gave up on the decision-making process in the field of international security at the diplomatic level. As a result we had, in particular, the collapse of Yugoslavia.

The Americans have developed and staged such scenarios repeatedly. One was implemented in Yugoslavia, when the country was torn apart into several states.  Afterwards, those countries were torn once again. The politics of Foreign Minister Kozyrev in the 1990s led to the fact that we began to cut missiles, nuclear submarines, and so on. We let all those matters slide."

"And then we have Ukraine and the war that has occurred right near Russian borders?"

"Yes. But there is an important aspect here: this is a consequence. Today's events in Ukraine were developed on the basis of the Yugoslav scenario. The history of this scenario is very well seen in Latin America. In particular, it goes about 15 years of dictatorship that was imposed as a result of the arrival of pro-American forces in 1964."

"Which countries do you mean?"

"Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Panama, Venezuela ... US transnational corporations are still there. Aspirations for independence displeased the United States, and the Americans began to organize coups in those countries, justifying their actions by the fact that it was pro-communist regimes coming to power in those countries, although the governments were quite democratic, with liberal views. Interference and pressure from the United States led to the emergence of dictatorship there. For example, the Government of Somoza in Nicaragua. He came to power with the help of the Americans. He was a bad man, a dictator.

"But as they say in the U.S.: he is a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch. Although they found no evidence to prove that Roosevelt said that, but it also concerned Mr Trohilo from the Dominican Republic. The National Guard that was established under those dictatorships was ruling people's lives, it was above the army and was involved in the decision-making. The National Guard, particularly in Nicaragua, was engaged not only in looting and harassment, but also in drug trafficking, racketeering and so on. Now this model is being used in Ukraine. Sooner or later, events may develop contrary to the script of the United States, and a dictator may eventually appear in Ukraine."

"Can it be Kolomoisky and his battalions?"

"Kolomoisky - who knows him? At first, they said it would be Yarosh, or maybe another force."

"Let's go back to Latin America. Is Putin's visit justified?"

"Of course, this military-technical cooperation is extremely important, such as the restoration of the army base in Lourdes. Restoring the old system, in my opinion, makes no sense. We spend enormous amounts of money on creating, maintaining, establishing strategic nuclear weapons. This is one of the important factors that affect safety. What is now happening in Ukraine and the fact that the Americans want to build the missile defense system as close as possible to the Russian border means that they have failed to create a long-range system. The speed of a ballistic missile is high enough to be intercepted.

The U.S. has successfully tested several medium-range systems. If interceptor missiles, for example, are located in Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, then they will be able to neutralize  Russian nuclear forces. We invest in maintaining our nuclear shield, because this is a guarantee of our security. But we are vulnerable, and we need to obtain more information on the American region - we need to collect data. If the situation develops negatively, but several Latin American countries remain our allies, then it would be possible to deploy elements of the Russian missile defense system there. But I hope that economic cooperation will be the driving force.

"Is it possible to build military and political alliances on such ties?"

"Of course. Actually, cooperation should develop comprehensively. This region will reach a certain level of development in a few years, because many countries are developing very rapidly there. Afterwards, one will need to complete the process of industrialization, move to a new level of industrial relations and technologies. This region is rich in resources.

They need an independent position that has manifested itself in Venezuela. When Hugo Chavez was on the verge of losing power, and it was not clear what it would lead to, Vladimir Putin established a contact and did not let it happen.

"Are you talking about the coup in 2002?"

"Yes. We expressed solidarity with the countries of Latin America, began to cooperate with Venezuela on a wide range of issues, including arms supplies. Now this is our market too. In order to keep the market and make money, we need to have normal contacts with the region."

"What is now happening in Cuba, Do you think it was right for Russia to write off Cuba's debt?"

"In Cuba, as it seems to me, they now promote the idea of postmodern communism, like in China. They managed to create a good educational system. They have a good health care system. Our relations develop and they will definitely grow. Therefore, the decision to write-off the debts was correct indeed. After all, this is accompanied by a package of programs of economic cooperation, the development of infrastructure projects, investment projects, security projects ...

So it is much better to work and earn together, rather than to recall some mythical figures, which, after many years, no one can determine exactly. No one can say for certain what the Soviet Union provided and under which conditions. Russia is a successor, but so much time has passed. It is better to work together and move forward.

Prepared Yuri Kondratyev
Pravda.Ru

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