#Alain paparazzi cubano facebook series

Their support for the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is not a surprise, and is well documented. The Castro regime has a track record of publicly backing Soviet imperial ventures into Czechoslovakia (1968) and Afghanistan ( 1979), and of Cuban troops fighting alongside their Russian allies in Ethiopia in the 1970s through the 1980s.

These allegations were based on a trove of recently leaked documents showing the presence of Cuban conscripts in the Russian military. “We, people’s deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, are deeply concerned about the presence and participation of forces and mercenaries loyal to the dictatorship in the Republic of Cuba in the genocidal invasion of the territory of Ukraine,” their statement read. On Septema group of Ukrainian legislators charged Havana with supplying mercenaries for the Russian military's war in Ukraine. But long term, it won't have any effect at all. SIMMONS: The - I think there'll be some short-term implications.

So they're in a very strong economic and political position, and they absolutely need Russia.įADEL: Will this impact their relationship, though, publicly accusing Russia of this? And now, unlike the Cold War, they have a chance to play Russian aid off against Chinese aid. The Cuban economy remains devastated, and the Russians have been their biggest and most generous supporter. It's facing its worst economic crisis in decades. It's one of the few remaining communist countries. It's absolutely impossible for major criminal enterprises to exist without the Cuban government's knowledge and involvement.įADEL: Does Cuba need Russia? I mean, will this impact their relationship? I mean, this is a relatively isolated place. So the idea that someone could be running a mercenary ring without the government's knowledge is ludicrous. A million Cuban residents are part of what's called the Committees and Defense of the Revolution, which is essentially a neighborhood snitch program. Cuba is a police state, and they proudly boast that. SIMMONS: It goes back to the - their deniability. and telling the U.S., we're not involved? So it's just - it's institutionalized criminal enterprise by the Havana government.įADEL: Now, Cuba has made it very publicly clear, at least tried to say, that they have nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, that they had nothing to do with these recruits of Cubans to go fight in the war.

And this has been - this type of endeavor has been going on for about 60 years, starting with terrorist support and then them serving as the proxies for intelligence efforts on behalf of Russia and others, drug trafficking. And any time they've gotten caught, historically, their first act is to deny it and then imprison some individuals as proof that they had no knowledge.įADEL: So really covering their tracks, in your view?

#Alain paparazzi cubano facebook series

This is just the latest in a long series of criminal enterprises run by the Cuban government. SIMMONS: I think the easy - short explanation is because they got caught, once again. National Public Radio's Leila Fadel interviewed Chris Simmons, an expert in Cuban spycraft, on Septemabout Cuba charging that Cubans were being trafficked to fight in Ukraine.įADEL: So what's your sense of why Cuba is making this accusation so publicly? However some have seen through Havana's smoke screen. This claim does not hold up to scrutiny, but many are falling for the false narrative.