Russia Gives Obama Another Bitch Slap, Revives Ties With Cuba

From France24.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Friday as the two Cold War allies strengthened their ties, Russia’s state RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The meeting came at the end of Medvedev’s Latin America tour which has been seen as an attempt by Russia to flex its muscle in Washington’s traditional backyard by seeking energy, military and trade cooperation across the region.
“This has been a great visit, a magnificent visit,” Cuban President and Fidel’s brother, Raul Castro, told reporters.

So ‘magnificent’ in fact, that there are signs that Russia is restarting economic, military, and intelligence ties with Havana:

The Russian military recently dispatched a guided-missile warship to Cuba as part of what U.S. officials say are growing military, intelligence and economic ties between Moscow and Havana.
The missile cruiser is the Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, according to state-run Russian news reports.

“The cruiser Moskva and the large seagoing tanker Ivan Bubnov set off for Havana on the fourth week of their long-distance deployment,” a fleet spokesman told Interfax-AVN on Friday. On the way, the ship conducted a test launch of a cruise missile, he said.

The effort was kicked off in February when Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that Moscow is canceling most of Cuba’s Soviet-era debt, estimated at close to $30 billion, while he denounced the U.S. embargo against the communist island nation.

The closer ties also appear related to Russian efforts to maintain influence in the region after the death of leftist Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and the expected retirement of Cuban President Raul Castro in the coming months.

Russian military ties with Cuba were bolstered during a visit to Havana in April by Russian Chief of Staff Gen. Valeri Gerasimov.

U.S. officials said Gen. Gerasimov’s visit included stops at Cuban military and intelligence sites and was viewed as an indication that Moscow wants to step up both its military and intelligence presence in Cuba.

During the Soviet period, the Russians operated a large electronic spying facility at Lourdes, near Havana, that was capable of intercepting most U.S. communications in the southeastern United States. It was less than 100 miles off the coast of Key West.

Now there are signs that the Russians want to return to Lourdes for more electronic spying.

The Russians also are assisting the Cubans economically with offshore oil prospecting, plans for a new international airport near Havana and deliveries of Russian passenger jets.

The warship visit follows Panama’s recent seizure of a North Korean freighter covertly ferrying Soviet-made missiles and aircraft from Cuba to North Korea, in apparent violation of U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear tests.

Russia’s boldness is a result of Obama’s craven foreign policies.  He was already owned by Vladimir Putin over the START treaty, and has no problem with unilaterally disarming America in the face of growing threats.

Some of Obama’s  “reset” tactics include: swapping spies, screwing our Eastern European allies, and making agreements that forbid the United States to improve defenses against ballistic missile attacks.

I feel so much safer with this useful idiot in charge.

Related posts:

http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2007/08/25/the-cold-war-part-ii/

http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2007/09/13/cold-war-part-ii-cont/