CUBA UNIT STUDIED TO SEE IF SOVIETS ESTABLISHED BASE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00498R000100180058-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 20, 2007
• Sequence Number: 58
• Publication Date: September 6, 1979
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2007/06/20: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100180058-2
STAT
THE WASHINGTON STAR
6 September 1979
Cuba Unit S- lu, de d ID See
11 Scvet5 5 Tf. ish Base
By John J. Fialka
tt'a;,hingtonStarStaffW iter
U.S. intelligence and national se-
curity officials are examining evi-
dence that suggests that the Soviet
Union may have established a mili-
tary base in Cuba.
Such bases have been opposed by
U.S. policy statements going back to
the Monroe Doctrine.
While U.S. intelligence analysts
have convinced the State Depart-
ment that there is proof that 2,000 to
3,000 Soviet combat troops have been
operating as a unit in Cuba "since at
least the mid-1970s," any U.S. re-
sponse may hinge upon knowledge
of the mission of the unit, Secretary
of State Cyrus Vance said at a press
conference yesterday.
"There are many different.
theories as to what the purpose of
the maintenance of that brigade is.
At the present we do not know
which of these hypotheses are cor-
rect," said Vance.
He added that the presence of the
unit is not covered by current
understandings with the Soviets and
that it "runs counter to long-held
American policies."
Vance said he has asked Soviet
Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to re-
turn from vacation to Washington
"at-the earliest moment" to shed
more light on the purpose on the
combat unit.
Although Vance and other State
Department analysts referred to the
'unit as a "brigade;-there is nothing
in the standard U.S. or Soviet Army
structures that exactly resembles
the Russian force in Cuba, which-
Vance said includes motorized rifle
battalions, tank and artillery battal-
ions and combat and service support
elements.
The Soviet Army has no brigades I
as such, the-closest size combat force
being a motorized rifle regiment
consisting of 2,000 to 2,400 men. The
U.S. Army uses the term brigade to
mean a command structure- that
could focus most of the resources of
a combat division in a given battle.
Although. U.S. brigades average
around 6,500 men, some government
analysts described the Russian force
as resembling a light U.S. brigade be-
cause it includes artillery, logistical
and management support that allow
it to be self-sustaining. Vance said
the unit appeared to have no ships
or aircraft assigned to it that would
give it "an assault capability."
In this sense it could be used as a
nucleus or support base for larger
combat units; at least thatwas one of
.'the theories circulating in Washing-
ton after Vance's statement. .-
A second theory, being'advanced
at the State Department, was that the
Soviet unit was sent as a "psychologi-
cal prop" to Cuba to make up-for the
30,000 to 40,000 Cuban troops, includ-
ing mainline Cuban infantry units,
sent to Africa and the Middle East.
A third theory was that the unit
was sent to demonstrate Soviet mili-
tary hardware and military doctrine
to the Cuban army - which uses
substantial quantities of Soviet
equipment - and to train insurgent
groups being sent from Cuba to
other Central and South American
countries.
One of the mysteries remaining
after Vance's statement was how
such a unit, maneuvering with tanks
and artillery, could have escaped
Vance explained that the under-
standings are not "just a simple
piece of paper" but are contained in
exchanges of letters and notes of
several discussions between Soviet
and U.S. officials, many of which are
classified. Vance said the State De-
partment is "reviewing the situa-
tion" to see whether these docu
ments could soon be made public. .
Sen. Richard Stone, D-Fla., first
raised the issue publicly on July 1Z
with a series of questions about the
Russian combat force to witnesses
appearing before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee.
Shortly after that Stone received a
letter from Vance assuring him than
"there is no evidence of any substan.
tial increase of the Soviet military
presence in Cuba over the past
several years or of the presence of a
Soviet military base."..
Yesterday Stone emerged from a i
closed briefing on Cuba given to the
committee by CIA Director Stans- i
field Turner to tell reporters that he
has seen evidence that the Soviet
Union may be secretly strenthening
the Cuban naval base at Cienfuegos
so it can function as a naval base for
Soviet military vessels.
Stone said that he hopes that a
new understanding can be reached
with the Soviets that expands upon
the 1962 and 1970 understandings.
Vance said that last month's anal-
ysis of pictures from satellite and U-2
flights, combined with "contribu-
tory evidence of a different kind
than we" had before," revealed the
combat unit was in addition to the
2,000 military advisers known to be
in Cuba.
"We do not know at the present
time whether it constitutes a base,"
Vance-said Just what constitutes a military
base may depend upon still-secret
"understandings" reached between
Soviet and U.S. officials during the
1962 Cuban missile crisis and the
1970.flap between the two govern-
ments over rumors that the U.S.S.R.
was about to use Cuba as a subma-
rine base.
Approved For Release 2007/06/20: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100180058-2