Cuba intervened into numerous conflicts during the Cold War. The country sent medical and military aid into foreign countries to aid Socialist governments and rebel groups. These interventionist policies were controversial and resulted in isolation from many countries. Due to the ongoing Cold War, Cuba attempted make allies across Latin America and Africa. Cuba believed it had more freedom to intervene in Africa as the U.S. was more concerned about Latin America. Still, the US was strongly opposed to Cuban involvement in Africa and continued Cuban intervention was a major source of tension. Cuban intervention was often confidential and all Cuban doctors and soldiers were forced to keep their location confidential.
In Latin America, Cuba supported numerous rebel movements, including in Nicaragua, and in Bolivia where Che Guevara attempted to foment an insurgency. In 1959, Cuba unsuccessfully invaded Panama and the Dominican Republic. Within Africa, Cuba supported numerous independence movements, including in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique. Che Guevara also went to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire) to support the Simba rebellion. Cuba's largest foreign interventions were in Angola in support of the MPLA and in Ethiopia in support of Mengistu Haile Mariam during the Ogaden War. Cuba also intervened militarily in the Arab world including in Yemen, Algeria, Iraq, and in support of Syria during the October 1973 War. They also supported the People's Revolutionary Government during the United States invasion of Grenada. While most Cuban military interventions were Soviet-backed, Cuba often worked independently and at times even supported opposing sides. General Leopoldo Cintra Frías, who served in both Angola and Ethiopia, stated, "The Soviets were never able to control us although I think that was their intention on more than one occasion."
Cuban foreign policy was motivated by both idealism and realpolitik. It publicly justified its interventions into foreign conflicts for a number of reasons; to spread their revolutionary ideas, aid "liberation movements" fighting for independence, and to protect the territorial sovereignty of allied nations. Cuban leader Fidel Castro stated: "Our Revolution is not a revolution of millionaires. Instead, it is one carried out by the poor, and is one which dreams of ensuring the well-being not only of our own poor, but rather of all the poor in this world. And that is why we talk of internationalism." Cuba was the only economically lesser developed nation with extensive military intervention in Africa. Cuba was a strong supporter of the Organization for African Unity's emphasis on border protection and African independence.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and facing the economic difficulties during the Special Period, Cuba continued to maintain a presence in Africa, including the service of many doctors. Cuban medical internationalism was a prominent feature of their interventions alongside military aspects. Medical internationalism consisted of four prevailing approaches: emergency response medical teams sent overseas; establishment abroad of public health systems for providing free health care for local residents; taking in foreign patients to Cuba for free treatment; and providing medical training for foreigners, to Cuba and overseas. All Cuban doctors overseas were volunteers.
Background
During the Cold War, Cuba often positioned itself internationally by providing direct military assistance to those who shared the same ideology and to resistance movements with at least 200,000 members of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) serving in foreign territories during the period. Cuba perceived its interventions to be a method of directly combating the international influence of the United States. Cuba also sought to place its troops into international conflicts in order to build combat expertise among their ranks.
Informally, Cuba's ambitions of foreign military intervention began shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, though it was officially adopted and pronounced in 1966 by Fidel Castro at the Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Cuba often received military and logistical assistance from the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations when participating in interventionist initiatives throughout Africa and Latin America.
History
1959 Panama invasion attempt
One of the first foreign actions taken by Cuba only months after the Revolution included an attempted coup in Panama on 24 April 1959. The coup was repelled by members of the Panamanian National Guard.
1959 Dominican Republic invasion attempt
The Dominican Republic was invaded on 14 June 1959. Fifty-six men (Cubans, Guatemalans, Dominican exiles, and American communists) landed a C-56 transport aircraft in Constanza. As soon as the invaders landed, they were massacred by the fifteen-man Dominican garrison. A week later, two yachts offloaded another group of invaders onto Chris-Craft launches for a landing on the north coast. Dominican Air Force pilots fired rockets from their British-made Vampire jets into the approaching launches, killing most of the invaders.
Sand War
The first official foreign deployment of Cuba's armed forces was in Algeria during the 1963 Sand War.Gleijeses, Piero (2002). Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. . Hundreds of Cuban troops arrived in Algeria on 22 October 1963, upon request from Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella. Castro was convinced that the United States sought Ben Balla's overthrow and was determined to prevent this from happening. Under the command of Efigenio Ameijeiras, Cuba deployed twenty-two T-34 tanks, eighteen 120-mm mortars, a battery of 57-mm recoilless rifles, anti-aircraft artillery with eighteen guns, and eighteen 122mm field guns with the crews to operate them. Castro sought to keep the operation covert in order to avoid international backlash, with many Cuban troops participating in the conflict wearing Algerian uniforms. However, French forces quickly discovered Cuban intervention and reported it to other governments. Apparently the Cubans did not actively participate in combat, and they were eventually withdrawn by the end of the year after providing training to Algerians in the use of military hardware.
Venezuela and Machurucuto raid
Soon after taking following the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro sought to take advantage of relations with Venezuela and incorporate its oil wealth within Cuba and quickly began to make relations with Venezuela guerrillas. President of Venezuela Rómulo Betancourt cut ties with Cuba in 1961 as part of the Betancourt Doctrine, which saw Venezuela breaking relations with governments that came to power through non-democratic means.Ewell, Judith. Venezuela: A Century of Change, p.145. Stanford University Press (1984), In July 1964, the Organization of American States sanctioned Cuba after a cache of weapons destined for the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional was discovered on Venezuela's shores.Ewell, Judith. Venezuela and the United States: From Monroe's Hemisphere to Petroleum's Empire, p.216. University of Georgia Press (1996), In May 1967, the Machurucuto raid saw Cuban troops attempting to make their way into the Andes to train Venezuelan guerrillas, but they were captured by the Venezuelan Army and National Guard."Latin America: Castro's Targets". Time, 19 May 1967.
Congo Crisis
During the Congo Crisis, Cuba intervened between April and November of 1965 and provided hundreds of personnel to assist the Conseil National de Liberation (CNL), also known as the Simbas, with overthrowing the Congolese government.Gleijeses, Piero (2002). Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. . The CNL was fighting against the government under Moïse Tshombe that took power of the DRC following the assassination of Patrice Lumumba. The Tshombe government was supported by the United States and South Africa.
In December 1964, just prior to his time in the Congo, Che Guevara gave a speech speaking out against western imperialism in front of the UN General Assembly. Guevara's speech demonstrated Cuban motives for supporting the CNL against the US back Congolese government. Soon after, Castro decided to send Guevara along with Víctor Dreke and 137 other Cuban soldiers to support the CNL, revolutionary followers of the deceased Patrice Lumumba. Cuba supported the CNL along with the African states of Algeria, Egypt, and Zanzibar, all of whom were especially frustrated by US involvement. The group flew to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and crossed Lake Tanganyika into the Congo. Guevara previously underwent cosmetic surgery and did not tell either the Tanzanians or the CNL that he was coming. While in the Congo, Guevara operated under the code name "Tatu", meaning third. When they arrived, the Cubans were surprised to find much less fighting and fewer CNL soldiers than expected. Only between 1,000 and 1,500 CNL rebels remained in the region to fight, and CNL leadership initially did not provide the Cubans with any tasks. Guevara struggled to have productive conversations with CNL leader Laurent Kabila. The CNL allowed the Cubans to begin engaging in larger battles in June, but they had only small military successes. The Cubans also trained the CNL soldiers in the guerrilla military tactics used in the Cuban revolution and taught to other revolutionary movements around the world. Both sides faced prejudice and differences with the other, which was made only more difficult by the language barrier. While in the Congo, the Cubans faced harsh conditions and illnesses, and Guevara contracted both malaria and asthma.
The Cubans withdrew in November after seven months for a mixture of reasons. First, Algeria had been another source of foreign support for the CNL, but it underwent a coup in June. In October, the Organization for African Unity met in Accra, Ghana, and demanded the exit of all foreign military presence in the Congo, including the Cubans. Then in November, General Mobutu took power and negotiated peace agreements with neighboring states such as Tanzania. Dar es Salaam had served as a supporter and essential entry and exit point for the Cubans, but they warned the Cubans they would no longer be able to help them. The Léopoldville government also offered independence to all CNL members who renounced support. Finally, throughout their time in the Congo, the Cubans saw marginal military success and faced many setbacks and struggles. The CNL leadership struggled with rivalries and lacked of strong united leadership on the ground. The Cuban mission was forced to eventually make the decision to withdraw.
In November, the Cubans crossed Lake Tanganyika back into Tanzania and flew back home. Guevara considered his efforts in the Congo to be a great failure. Along with the withdrawal of the Cubans, 17 young CNL fighters traveled to Havana with the goal of receiving training and continue the war. However, problems within the Congolese government prevented their return. Some families and close relatives of CNL members also moved to Cuba leading to the development of a shared Cuban and Congolese identity and community. Guevara continued on to Bolivia where he was eventually executed after being captured by a CIA agent.
Guinea-Bissau War of Independence