Russia has no plans of military base in Cuba

Via RIA Novosti:

Russia has no plans to build a military base in Cuba, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.

Lavrov said that a Russian military base in Cuba was “out of question,” but ships of the Russian Navy, performing tasks all over the world, require support facilities to meet their basic needs.

“Making a port call, replenishing supplies, giving the crew a rest is an absolutely natural need. We have discussed such possibilities with our Cuban friends,” he said.

Odds & ends

  • Venezuelan air force pilots and maintenance crews will train in China on newly acquired Y-8 transport planes.
  • USSOUTHCOM’s military advance in Latin America through military bases in Colombia, Chile and military exercises.
  • Venezuelan military allegedly tortures four Colombians detained during FARC attack in early May.
  • Elite units from 21 countries are participating in military competition in Colombia.
  • Colombia’s president is negotiating a peace agreement with the FARC. Ex-military officers are concerned over the conditions of such negotiations.
  • What’s behind US military base in Chile? An important destination for regional military trainers and contractors.

Zone of action

  • Peru’s defense minister selects new military chief to lead ops against rebels in jungle region of Cusco. Rebels have recently kidnapped gas pipeline workers and killing military troops/police officers.
  • A second military crisis for Peru’s president? As a result of military action that left soldiers and police dead in a zone where armed groups operate from remanants of Sendero Luminoso, President Humala shuffles military high command.
  • Uruguay’s army will honor soldiers killed by the Tupamara guerrilla group nearly four decades ago.
  • Turbulent succession in Mexico’s armed forces? Groups within the army and navy are trying to move their men into defense and naval minister positions in a new government.
  • Is there a culture of corruption in Paraguay’s armed forces? Several members of the army tried to rip-off the state in a scheme to divert subsidized funds.

Military’s role in Latin American presidential crises

While researching for new publications on civil-military relations in Latin America, I came across a paper to be delivered at the LASA2012 conference in late May by Leiv Marsteintredet from the University of Bergen.

Marsteintredet’s paper compares the presidential crises generated by civilian and military actors and the role the military has played in civilian crises in Latin America.

The autor notes:

the military’s motivation for intervening in civil politics is no longer to fill the role of a poder moderador, but rather to function as an armed lobbyist to defend the military as an institution, its honour and status.

The rest of his paper is here.