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Radical Hosts. One disturbing aspect of the Cuban presence is the vast amount of military hardware that the Soviets have been sending to Syria. Some intelligence experts believe the weaponry is far in excess of what Syria could possibly use in another war with Israel. Thus, these experts contend, Syria has become a sort of stockpile from which Soviet planes, guns or tanks can be drawn for service in trouble spots like Angola. The Cubans go along to man the equipment. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Daniel P. Moynihan recently described them as "the Gurkhas of the Russian empire," a reference to the fierce Nepalese soldiers who for long moved about the world to fight on Britain's behalf.
Havana's overseas forces—as well as its Middle Eastern and African intelligence operations, handled by Section V of the Dirección General de Inteligencia, Cuba's CIA—are under the stern control of Raúl Castro, Fidel's younger brother and the country's defense minister. The Cubans are still eager to export their brand of Marxism, but they no longer attempt to create a revolutionary atmosphere, as Che Guevara tried unsuccessfully during the late '50s and '60s in the Congo (now Zaïre), the Dominican Republic, Panama and finally Bolivia, where he died. The new Cuban strategy seems to be to take advantage of revolutionary conditions already created by friendly, radical host governments.
The obvious question is where will they move next. Latin American leaders are convinced that some of Havana's troops will soon be helping their revolutionary brothers much closer to home. One possible target could be Peru, which already has a left-wing military junta. Cuba maintains a mysteriously large embassy staff in Lima, and the foresighted Cubans are training Peruvian pilots at San Antonio de los Baños and Yuri Gagarin air bases outside Havana—just in case Lima decides to buy some MIGs from Moscow. Peru, in one scenario, could even be the springboard for a new Gurkha maneuver all the way along South America's west coast.