Yahoo! News
October 18, 2001.
Russian Communists, hardliners protest Cuba spy station closure
MOSCOW, Oct 18 (AFP) - Russian Communists and ultranationalists protested
Thursday against President Vladimir Putin's decision to pull the plug on a key
spy station in Cuba, accusing the Kremlin of abandoning Russia's claim to be a
world power in order to save money.
The Communists accused Putin of dismantling not only the Lourdes radar
station itself, but a symbolic cornerstone of the Soviet spy architecture that
had given Moscow Cold War parity with Washington in the superpower stakes.
"Putin is pursuing a policy of shrinking Russia's influence until it
barely reaches beyond the outkirts of Moscow," Communist deputy Viktor
Ilyukhin told the State Duma (lower house of parliament).
"It's a policy initiated by (former Soviet president Mikhail) Gorbachev
and (former Russian president Boris) Yeltsin, and it's nothing more than a
capitulation to the West," he added.
Ilyukhin added that Putin's decision, announced Wednesday, to shut down the
Cuban spy station, and the Cam Ranh naval base in Vietnam, "poses a grave
risk to our military interests, and will significantly reduce Russia's role in
the world."
Rightwing nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky joined the Communists in
demanding an urgent review of this "national problem" by the Duma's
security committee.
The Cuban government said late Wednesday it was in "total disagreement"
with Moscow's decision to shut the base at Lourdes, 60 kilometres (40 miles)
south of the capital Havana.
Cuba was a former Soviet satellite during the Cold War.
The United States predictably hailed the shutdown of two key Soviet-era
bases as a sign of Russia's long-overdue recognition that the Cold War was over,
and that both Moscow and Washington could now unite to fight terrorism.
"Not only is the Cold War over, the post-Cold War period is also over,"
said US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Shanghai, where US President George
W. Bush is due to hold talks with Putin this weekend on the sidelines of the
APEC summit.
The Russian foreign ministry sought to defuse Cuban anger Thursday by
explaining the Lourdes decision in terms of Russia's unprecedented support for
the US-led campaign against Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden and his
al-Qaeda terrorist network.
"It is obvious that the fight will be long and require plenty of funds.
So we will have to be economical, bearing in mind that the nature of challenges
to our national security has seriously changed since the end of the Cold War,"
said ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko.
He added that Russia and Cuba had been discussing the future of the spy
station "for a long time, so the decision cannot be unexpected."
Announcing the radar station shutdown on Wednesday, Putin reminded the
United States that Russia still advocated "a full lifting of the economic
blockade against Cuba."
Putin cited financial reasons Wednesday for the decision to dismantle "this
year" the spy station in the United States' backyard.
"It costs 200 million dollars a year in rent to Cuba. For that amount,
we can buy and launch 20 military satellites into space," the Russian chief
of the general staff, General Anatoly Kvashnin said, explaining Putin's
decision.
Around 1,500 Russian engineers, technicians and soldiers currently observe
submarine activity from the base at Lourdes at a total cost of 300 million
dollars (333 million euros) a year to Russia, according to military experts.
Washington says Moscow is using the facilities to spy on the US.
However, Russia reiterated Thursday that it hoped the decision to pull the
plug on the radar station would not damage relations between Moscow and Havana.
Powell says Russian base closures mark end of 'post-Cold War era'
SHANGHAI, Oct 18 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday
that Russia's decision to close military bases in former Soviet satellites Cuba
and Vietnam marked the end of the "post-Cold War" era and a
recognition of 21st-century threats such as terrorism.
"Not only is the Cold War over, the post-Cold War period is also over,"
Powell said of Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement on Wednesday that
Moscow would shut its Lourdes listening post in Cuba and its naval base in Cam
Ranh Bay, Vietnam.
Powell's comments to a group of US business leaders went beyond those made
by President George W. Bush, who on Wednesday called the closure of the Lourdes
facility "another indication that the Cold War is over".
"President Putin understands that Russia and America are no longer
adversaries; we do not judge our successes by how much it complicates life for
the other country," Bush said.
Putin, who said his decision was based on financial concerns, will meet Bush
here on Sunday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
leaders summit.
Powell said he was hopeful the base closures indicated Moscow's willingness
to engage Washington in a new strategic dialogue that would include dropping
opposition to US plans to deploy a national missile defense (NMD) system.
"It's a part a new strategic opportunity to work with Russia,"
Powell said.
Washington and Moscow are at odds over Bush's plans for NMD, which Russia
vehemently opposes and is currently barred under the 1972 anti-ballistic missile
(ABM) treaty.
The United States has proposed replacing the treaty, which it calls a Cold
War relic, but Russia has objected, leading Washington to threaten a unilateral
withdrawal from the pact.
US officials say NMD is needed to counter missile threats from so-called "rogue
states" such as North Korea and Iraq, but Moscow says the system would lead
to a destabilizing arms race.
Powell said Putin's move showed that Russia was willing to move forward in
countering new threats and warned that if countries like Iraq and North Korea,
which are both deemed "sponsors of terrorism" by the United States,
did not change their ways, they would suffer.
Countries that are "transfixed in some past life will find themselves
being left further and further behind," he said.
Havana disappointed at Russian decision to shut radar base
HAVANA, Oct 17 (AFP) - The Cuban government said Wednesday that Moscow's
decision to withdraw its radar base from Cuba was unacceptable and that
bilateral negotiations on the future of the base should continue.
Havana said that it was in "total disagreement" with Moscow's
decision to shut the base following Russian President Vladimir Putin's
announcement Wednesday, 10 months after he affirmed that Moscow would keep it up
and running.
Putin stressed Wednesday that the decision to withdraw the radar base did
not mean Russia was planning to scale down its cooperation with Cuba, a former
Soviet satellite during the Cold War. | 
