Cuba’s military is facing fresh threats from the US, with a reduced force and outdated equipment. According to a CNN analysis, hundreds of videos and images published online by the island nation’s military and government in recent months illustrate the reduced state of its combat force.
Cuba’s Military Capabilities
The videos deliberately showcase aging hardware because they’re designed to project defiance — not strength. They’re meant to “show the resistance” of the Cuban people, regardless of how Cuban forces might stack up against the larger and more technologically advanced US military.
Cuban officials say they have no intention of threatening the US –– at Guantanamo Naval Base or otherwise –– but they will defend themselves if attacked. In April, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel told Newsweek if military aggression occurs, and “should we fall in battle, to die for the homeland is to live.”
Cuba’s Military History
At its peak in the early 1990s, Cuba’s military had swelled to a force of over 235,000 active-duty personnel and more reservists, boasting what analysts lauded as a “first-world military in a third-world country.” The force was strengthened by advanced Soviet weaponry that could go toe-to-toe with US armaments.
The force has more than halved in recent years, experts say, to at most 50,000 active-duty personnel after the loss of Soviet support. This reduced force continually trains on decades-old Soviet equipment — much of it given as foreign aid before the USSR’s collapse in 1991.
Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.
