History: The Cuban Army

Thesis Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. — George Santiyana

This quote has a great meaning for all armies regarding how they have had to learn and adapt. All armies have had to learn from past mistakes so as to not repeat the same or similar outcome of wars fought throughout history. The Cuban army has overcome great adversity during their 50 years of controversy using strategies, and operational techniques to gain the necessary intelligence needed to achieve the many victories. Cuba has been plagued by fighting narcotics traffickers, extremist terrorist and even subversive group’s in its history. The country has had 19 battles as a whole. This thesis will focus is on what the Cuban people dealt with under

It is part of the Greater Antilles of the West Indies group (an area equal to Pennsylvania). Although Cuba has no land border it has many neighboring islands. To the north are both Florida and the Bahamas. To the south is the Cayman Islands (which is a territory of the United Kingdom) and Jamaica. To the east are Haiti and the United Kingdom 's territory (Turks & Caicos). It is the westernmost island just west of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The dry season is moderated by trade winds between November and April while the wet season is between May and October. The weather has warm temperatures range from about 72-80° F (22-27° C) throughout the year. With warm temperatures droughts are common. The wet season also nearly runs into the hurricane season. The hurricane season last from June to November, but September and October have been the highest recorded months for hurricane activity. In general, the country averages about one hurricane every other year. Cuba is highly susceptible to hurricanes and other tropical storms that contain high winds and rain. The island is long but a narrow island with a number of small mountain ranges running along it. Sierra Maestra is located in the southeast and south-central area, the Central Range, and the Sierra de los Organos. On average the mountains do not affect the countries weather patterns. It is flat or rolling elsewhere to include a long coastline that is quite

The international disputes are that the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased to U.S. The only way to terminate the lease is for a mutual agreement, or total US abandonment of the area. On Jan. 3, 1961 the revolution leader Fidel Castro broke ties with U.S. and aligned himself with the Soviet Union. The U.S. initially welcomed what looked like a democratic Cuba, but within a few months, Castro established military tribunals for political opponents and jailed hundreds. Castro disavowed Cuba 's 1952 military pact with the U.S. and proceeded to confiscate U.S. assets, and established Soviet-style collective farms. The U.S. broke relations with Cuba. Castro then formalized his alliance with the Soviet Union causing thousands of Cubans flee the country. At the battle of the Bay of Pigs disaster in 1961, a U.S.-backed group of Cuban exiles invaded Cuba. Planned during the Eisenhower administration, the invasion was given the go-ahead by President John Kennedy, although he refused to give U.S. air support. The landing at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, was a fiasco. The invaders did not receive popular Cuban support and were easily repulsed by the Cuban military. Later followed the Soviet-Missile Crisis where the Soviets attempted to install medium-range missiles in Cuba that were capable of striking targets in the United States with nuclear warheads. This provoked a crisis in 1962 resulting in the denouncing the Soviets for “deliberate deception”. President Kennedy