MOSCOW, Jul 3 The decision to withdraw the Russian military contingent from Cuba in 1993 was politically verified in the geopolitical conditions prevailing at that time, said Mikhail Myagkov, scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), noting the relevance of developing military cooperation between the two countries.
Earlier, the historian, in a commentary to the agency on the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of the Russian military contingent from Cuba (July 3, 1993), called the withdrawal from the Island of Freedom a mistake. This statement of the historian evoked a lot of responses from Russian citizens, including former Soviet military personnel who served in Cuba in the 1960s-90s. relations with Cuba and the subsequent withdrawal of the Russian military contingent was a consequence of the policy that was carried out back in the days of Gorbachev and Shevardnadze.Demonstrating the reduction of tension in the Cold War and «new thinking», Gorbachev announced in September 1991 that all Soviet troops would be withdrawn from Cuba The main decisions were made just then. And it is to them that the word about a mistake applies, «Myagkov explained his words, referring to the veterans of the Soviet troops.
The RVIO recalled that the decision taken in the 1990s to withdraw the Russian training center and the subsequent closure of the electronic intelligence center in Lourdes was made based on Russia's interests «in the specific geopolitical conditions.»
«It is absolutely certain that all decisions regarding the withdrawal of the military contingent were politically verified at that time. At the same time, in the current situation, the importance of developing economic, cultural and military-technical cooperation with Cuba from the point of view of historical experience seems to me very relevant», — emphasized Myagkov.