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NEWS
Military leader
envisions aiding Cuba in the future: The former Southcom chief said the
U.S. military can help train and supply the Cuban military in a
democratic future
By Frances Robles, The Miami Herald
McClatchy-Tribune Business News
8 November 2006
The Miami Herald (MCT)
Nov. 8--Calling the Cuban military one of the most respected and
strongest of the island's institutions, the former head of the
Miami-based Southern Command says the U.S. military is ready to work
with, train and supply Cuban soldiers when democracy prevails there.
Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, the four-star general who now runs NATO
operations in Europe, made the points in an academic article outlining
the ways the U.S. and Cuban armed forces could work together in
humanitarian, counterdrug, counterterrorism and disaster relief
operations.
The article mirrors U.S. policy toward Cuba, and in particular the
recent Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba report, but was unusual
in that such a high-ranking Army general helped write it.
The article published this month in Cuban Affairs, a University of Miami
online journal, was co-authored by Maj. Barbara Fick. Craddock ran U.S.
military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean as Southcom chief
from 2004 until last month, and Fick serves as Army special assistant to
the head of Southcom.
In their article, they underscored that a democratic Cuba could receive
the regional military cooperation many countries in the hemisphere now
enjoy.
--The Cuban military, known by its Spanish acronym, FAR, could attend
U.S. professional military education courses.
--Financing and sales could be offered for equipment modernization and
maintenance.
--Cuba's experienced medical community could collaborate with the United
States on medical missions.
'A FIRST STEP'
"If the original intent of the Cuban revolution was to bring freedom and
equality to all Cubans, then FAR support for a transition to democracy
would be a first step towards finally fulfilling that intent," the
article states.
Any Pentagon planning for a post-Castro Cuba is likely to be informed by
the Bush administration decision to dismantle Saddam Hussein's military.
Amid the chaos that has erupted in Iraq, critics of U.S. policy have
said Washington should have worked with the Iraqi military rather than
alienate it.
But U.S. military contacts with Cuban officers are currently taboo,
except for a monthly meeting along the fence that separates the U.S.
Navy base at Guantanamo from Cuba, where the U.S. base commander meets
with a Cuban counterpart to discuss issues of common interest.
"The relationship has been strained," Fick said in an interview. "That
may be a challenge to reestablish the confidence and trust that a
cooperative relationship would require."
CUBA'S VIEW
The Cuban government has not commented on the Craddock article but would
likely view the offers of U.S. collaboration as a slap at the island's
sovereignty. "The Cuban military perceives this kind of talk of
assistance and partnerships as a comprehensive effort to destabilize the
revolution," said Frank Mora, a National War College professor who
studies the Cuban military. "Democracy' is code for 'intervention.' "
Andy Gomez, senior fellow at the University of Miami institute which
published the report, said such a relationship between the Pentagon and
Cuba would be mostly for U.S. benefit: They would need the Cuban
military's help in avoiding a mass migration crisis.
The article, he added, fails to address variables such as human rights,
freedom of political prisoners and elections.
'It interprets things American style: 'We are going to export to you our
democratic principles,' Have we learned from Iraq a little bit?" he
said.
'I don't think you can say the Cuban military is going to be willing and
ready to say 'Ok, we're going to create a democratic state.' I just
don't see Raul [Castro] picking up the phone and calling Washington."
Miami Herald staff writer Carol Rosenberg contributed to this report.
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