Cuba: The Russian Presence

Despite initial Cuban attempts to hide it. and official U.S. denials that it was going on, there was no mistaking the Russian buildup when it began six weeks ago. Refugees fleeing Castro's miserable island brought the first reports; U.S. intelligence agents and members of the Western diplomatic corps filled out the story. Ships—some Russian, some chartered from such NATO nations as Britain, West Germany and Norway—were pouring into Cuba carrying heavy loads of Russian military equipment and Russian soldiers.

Mostly at night, and mostly with their own hands, the Russians unloaded sensitive electronic gear and crates shaped as though they...

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