adminThe Herald, October 3, 1979
US Marines will storm ashore in a mock exercise at United States Guantanamo naval base in Cuba as part of President Carter’s planned military show of strength over the presence of Russian troops on the island.
An Administration source said the exercise would be held within two weeks and would increase the Marine presence at the base four-fold.
More than 1 500 troops are expected to take part, Iana Reuter reports.
Guantanamo has been a US base since 1903, but since the revolution in 1959, President Castro’s Government has refused to accept rent for the base and has periodically threatened to seize it.
President Carter went on television on Monday night to give his answer to the presence of Russian troops, making it clear he had failed in negotiations to win any guarantees that the troops would be withdrawn.
Details of the Guantanamo exercise were revealed shortly after the President’s 20-minute speech.
A key US senator said President Carter’s actions were not enough to ensure Senate approval of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the Soviet Union.
The President said in his broadcast he had significant assurances from “the highest levels of the Soviet Government” that the troops would not be used to threaten other nations.
But Senator Frank Church, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Russian assurances were not enough and added the Senate would still insist on withdrawal.
Senior Administration officials conceded the Kremlin had not altered the status quo on Cuba, as Mr Carter, and other US officia
But they argued that the United States was changing the status quo itself with the planned show of force in the Caribbean and elsewhere.
The US actions in the Caribbean and elsewhere proposed by Mr Carter included a permanent Caribbean joint task headquarters in Florida, increased military manoeuvres in the area, stepped up surveillance, and renewed guarantees that Moscow would be met with the overwhelming US military force should they attempt to use their combat troops on Cuba to threaten any nation.
He concluded his speech with a strong appeal to the Senate to approve the S.A.L.T. II treaty.
“Politics and nuclear arsenals do not mix,” he said. “We must not play politics with the security of the United States (or with) the survival of the human race.”
LESSONS FOR TODAY
The US has and will always remain a bully that is always ready to flex its military, financial might and super power tag at every opportunity.
People, organisations and even countries tend to enter into defence mode every time they feel threatened.
It is important to stand up for the weak or people who share the same vision and values as you, when they are being threatened by someone stronger than them. The Russian troops were dispatched to Cuba to help fend off an onslaught by the US and also because both countries strongly believed in socialism.
Respect of the territorial integrity of other nations is an important element in international relations. The US has continued to use Guantanamo naval base even though it was clear that the Cuban Government did not want the troops in their country, as they punish Cuba with a six-decade-old illegal embargo.
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