The Cold War saga seems to turn over a new leaf in the Caribbean zone, so famous more than half a century ago. Several media sources reported that last week, Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed with Cuban authorities on reopening the signals intelligence facility in Torrens, also known as Lourdes, a location not far from Havana. The base, which became operational in 1967, was destined to intercept American telephone and radio communications, and was shut down only in 2001 by the same acting president of Russian Federation. In the past, between 1000 to 3000 (depending on the source) military staff worked here, making it the largest covert military outpost built and managed by the Soviet Union abroad.
According to Russia Today, Putin denied on Wednesday that he would be interested in reopening the listening post, since Russia can “meet its defense needs without this component”. However, military expert Viktor Murakhovsky, cited by the same source, consider reusing the Cuban base “more than justified” in a time when the Russian military signal intelligence satellite fleet “has been significantly downgraded“. Formerhead of Russian foreign intelligence service, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, cited by AFP, showed a high degree of enthusiasm pointing out that “Lourdes gave the Soviet Union eyes in the whole of the western hemisphere”. For him, reopening the former military base adds justice to his country at international level: “For Russia, which is fighting for its lawful rights and place in the international community, it would be no less valuable than for the USSR.”
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President Putin’s current political trend on the international stage was revealed once more by claiming that the interest of Russia is to see a “politically independent, united Latin America that is becoming an important part of the emerging polycentric world order”. One of the prices he seems to be willing to pay in order to achieve this target is to agree to write off 90% of Cuba’s $35 billion debt to the Russian Federation. Whether the financial agreement would or would not be a crucial part of a deal regarding the presence of increased Russian military intelligence near America’s shores is a question for the future.