Russia Studies Reopening Its Military Bases In Cuba And Vietnam

Russia Studies Reopening Its Military Bases In Cuba And Vietnam / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 7 October 2016 — Russian Deputy Defense Minister
Nikolai Pankov, announced that his country is considering returning to
military bases in Cuba and Vietnam and is reconsidering, therefore,
their pending decommissioning.

"If necessary, we should reopen these bases, both in Cuba and in
Vietnam, if they do not want to use diplomatic language with us, we will
fight the threat to peace," said the parliamentarian from the
president's party, Fair Russia. The politician specified, according to
Russian news agencies, that he was referring primarily to "a neo-fascist
organization called the Islamic State and all its sponsors."

The base in Lourdes, near Havana, was operated by Moscow between 1967
and 2001, and was the largest Soviet radio-electronic espionage center
outside its national territory, according to experts, from which the
USSR was able to observe the entire Western Hemisphere.

In July 2014, the Moscow press was already speculating about the
reopening of the Lourdes base, based on news sources from the Kremlin
but denied by President Vladimir Putin himself.

Months later, in October, the Minister of Defense of the Russian
Federation Sergey Shoigu, announced that Russia will actively develop
its military bases abroad, particularly in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Armenia and raised the idea of creating a network in Vietnam, Cuba,
Venezuela, Nicaragua, Seychelles and Singapore.

Source: Russia Studies Reopening Its Military Bases In Cuba And Vietnam
/ 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/russia-studies-reopening-its-military-bases-in-cuba-and-vietnam-14ymedio/