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In 1975 Cuba exported her revolu–
tionary zeal to Africa, where her sol–
diers gained great prestige among
Third World nations allied against
U.S. interests.
And now, finally, Cuba's seeds of
revolution have begun to sprout all
over lhe Americas.
First Domino: Nicaragua
The recent victory of the Cuban-sup–
ported Sandinista rcbels in Nicara–
gua is a portent of a great upheaval
to occur throughout Central America
and the Caribbean area.
In Nicaragua, the Marxists are
not in complete control- yet. The
$andinistas a re split into three main
factions- but the most powerful is
the Marxist pro-Cuban group. l n
four days in Havana last Ma rch, Fi–
del Castro is said to have personally
spent 48 hours with the leaders, help–
ing them hammer out a workable al–
liance.
The dominant Communists in the
movement are clever, too. They will
be cautious about tipping their ideo–
logical hand. Reconstruction of war–
lorn Nicaragua will take four
10
five
billion dollars, much of it expected to
come from the United States (Cuba
and Russia can't afford it!).
Gullible Washington will probably
come across with the money-hoping
it can win the favor of the moderates.
Meanwhile, the revolutionary junta
is nationalizing practically every im–
portant industry in the country, but
will allow sorne freedom for foreign
prí vate banks and small businesses in
order to maintain a non-Communist
facade.
At the same time, Cuba is stepping
up the training of Communist guer–
rillas in El Salvador and Guatemala,
the latter counlry now left very much
exposed by its open pro-U.S. stance.
(Woe be lo any country trusting in
America these days!}
Mr. Carter has so far resisted
pleas for more arms by the govern–
ments of Guatemala and El Salvador
to control the rebel movements. Most
U.S. weapons sales to those countries
have bcen cut off to protest alleged
human-rights abuses, as they were
earlier lo lhe Nicaraguan Nalional
Guard.
Washington's "human-rights"
6
policy is therefore in danger of be–
coming completely unstuck. All that
it is accomplishing is to give Castro a
free hand to train and arm the side he
prefers in each conflict. The end re–
sult? An authoritarian government is
ousted in favor of a Marxist one
aligned to Havana and Moscow–
and one generally seething in hatred
toward the United States.
Central America " Going Red"
On July 24, shortly after the $andin–
istas cameto power, President Carter
declared over prime-time television:
''1
do not attribute all the change in
Nicaragua to Cuba." A few days ear–
lier , however , a U.S. intelligence re–
port revealed that Julian Lopez, a
ranking official of the Cuban sccret
pÓlice (DG I), had played a key role
in masterminding the $andinista
takeover.
This information- nol released lo
the public- also fits another piece of
intelligence that has finally come to
light: Command elements of a Soviet
brigade have been inside Cuba since
the mid-1970s. At least 2,000 Soviet
military personnel (sorne believe the
number could be as high as 6,000)
a re on the island at the present
time.
In a shrewd swap arrangement,
Soviet pilots have also assumed re–
sponsibility for Cuba's a ir defenses,
thus freeing up Cuban pilots for Rus–
sia's service in Angola, Ethiopia,
Afghanistan and elsewhere.
"While intensification of Soviet–
Cuban interests in the Ca ribbean is
either ignored o r over looked by
[President] Carter," report colum–
nists Roland Evans and Robert Nov–
ak, "its meaning is well understood
by bis own professional analysls in
national security and intelligence:
Central America is going Red.
" Only the time, not the eventual
outcome, is in question, unless there
is a reversal of U.S. policy.
"Specifically, the President's most
sophisticated advisers do not doubt
that, sooner or later, the $andinista
regime will be overtly Communist.
Present cordiality from Managua
is like Fidel Castro's smiles in 1959,
an effort to shake down Uncle
Sam before the true colors are
shown.
"Nor is there any doubt about
what's next on the agenda: Extension
of the Soviet-Cuban thrust into El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
ovcr an undefined but probably pro–
tracted period. However slowly, Cen–
tral American dominÓes are fall–
ing."
The Cuban government has been
very aslule in disguising its heavy
hand in lhe government-loppling
business, so as not to overly antago–
nize Washington. Havana slill hopes
for closer economic ties with Wash–
ington, especially the lifting of the
two-decades-old U.S. trade embar–
go.
In the case of Nicaragua, Cuba
shipped supplies of Russian AK-47
rifles, machine guns, mortars and
anti-ai rcraft weapons to $andinista
slaging grounds in Costa R ica
aboard P anamania n ai r force
planes.
lslands to Fall Also?
American officials fear that if the
so-called "domino theory" prevails in
Central America, the upheaval may
spread to the tiny, independent is–
lands that form the eastern rim of the
Caribbean basin.
Many of these small, yet overpo–
pulated mini-states are ripe for revo–
lutionary overthrows. Nearly all of
them are facing bleak economic fu–
tures, with rising unemployment.
The pullout over the last decade or so
by Britain-the colonial power which
ruled most of them-has left a power
vacuum. Cuba, for one, is anxious to
fi ll it.
.The roots of Washington's concern
in the eastern Caribbean island chain
go back to the March 13 coup that
overthrew the government of Gren–
ada and put a self-proclaimed "radi–
cal-leftist" regime in control of that
tiny (population
1
06,000) republic.
Grenada's new government insists
that it is neither Communist nor a
Cuban satellite. But, in a move that
sent tremors through the White
House and State Department, it im–
mediately turned to Havana for
arms, military advisers and other
a id.
Since then, an island-hopping rip–
ple effect has inspired other leftist
(Continued on page 41)
The
PLAIN TRUTH October
1
November 1979