Cuba 'has nerves of steel'

2008-07-24 11:42

Havana - Fidel Castro said Havana owed no apologies to Washington over reports that Russia might start flying long-range bombers to Cuba, and warned that his country "had nerves of steel in times of genocide".

It was the first official comment from the Americas' only one-party communist government since a US general responded to a report in a Russian newspaper, warning Russia against basing nuclear-capable bombers in Cuba.

"What we need are nerves of steel in times of genocide, and Cuba has them. The United States knows that," he wrote, in what appeared to be a reference to previous Cold War era confrontations between the two countries.

The flights, although they have not yet been officially announced by Moscow, have already sparked tensions reminiscent of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 1960s.

The ailing Fidel Castro, 81, who in February handed over power to his 77-year-old brother Raul, made his comments in a letter to cubadebate.cu on Wednesday.

"Raul did just the right thing by maintaining appropriate silence on statements published on Monday July 21 by Izvestia, related to potential installation of strategic Russian bomber bases in our country," he wrote.

Fidel Castro said the news arose from "hypotheses developed in Russia due to Yankee (US) stubbornness about the idea of setting up radar and a missile shield near the border of that great power".

'Macciavelli's Strategy'

US General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be the air force's chief of staff, said in Washington on Tuesday that if Russia "did, I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America".

The elder Castro has been sidelined by a major intestinal illness two years ago and now spends a lot of his time writing political essays.

In his latest, headlined "Macciavelli's Strategy", he said that with the United States: "if you say yes, I'll kill you. If you say no, it doesn't matter, I'll kill you anyway. That is the Machiavellian strategy the United States uses with Cuba.

"We need not offer any explanations or excuses nor ask forgiveness," he wrote.

"What we need are nerves of steel in times of genocide, and Cuba has them. The United States knows that," he added. Castro noted that the regime he launched would mark its 55th anniversary on Saturday.

The newspaper Izvestia has reported that the Russian military is thinking of flying long-range bombers to Cuba on a regular basis, citing an unnamed senior Russian air force official, as saying such flights were under discussion.

The plan was in response to US plans to install missile defences in eastern Europe, it reported.

But it was unclear whether they would involve permanent basing of nuclear bombers in Cuba, or just use of the island as a refuelling stop.

In his confirmation hearing to become the air force's chief of staff, Schwartz was asked what he would recommend if Russia were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba.

"I would certainly offer the best military advice that we engage the Russians not to pursue that approach," he said, adding that Russia would cross a "red line" if it did.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the Izvestia report because there had been no "official response from the Russian government".

Conducting long-range bomber patrols to Cuba would signal a re-awakening of military co-operation by former Cold War allies Moscow and Havana, and resurrects issues that first arose with the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

The crisis, which brought Washington and Moscow to the brink of nuclear war, ended with an understanding that Moscow would remove its intermediate range missiles from Cuba and not introduce strategic systems in the island.

The Soviets tested the understanding in 1970 when the Soviets moved to establish a base for nuclear submarines in Cienfuegos, Cuba.

Moscow backed away from that plan, but began occasional flights by Tu-95 Bear reconnaissance aircraft from Murmansk to Cuba.

The United States never challenged the Bear flights because the aircraft were not bombers, according to histories of the period.

Over the past year, Russia has revived long-range strategic bomber patrols in the Pacific and north Atlantic.

The Russian moves come amid rising tensions over the US missile defence plans, and warnings by Moscow that it will be forced to counter them militarily.

Until now, US officials have shrugged off the stepped up Russian military activity, while insisting that a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors it plans to install in Poland pose no threat to Russia.

But President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that the missile defence project worsens regional security and will force Moscow to consider counter-measures.

- AFP