Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09HAVANA721
2009-12-04 11:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
US Interests Section Havana
Cable title:
MILITARY EXERCISES FAIL TO ROUSE CUBANS
how-toVZCZCXRO7687 PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR DE RUEHUB #0721 3381150 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 041150Z DEC 09 FM USINT HAVANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4966 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUCOGCA/COMNAVBASE GUANTANAMO BAY CU PRIORITY RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000721
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/PD
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2019
TAGS: CU PGOV PM PREL
SUBJECT: MILITARY EXERCISES FAIL TO ROUSE CUBANS
(SBU) Cuba mobilized as many cameras and reporters as it did
soldiers for island-wide military exercises that concluded on
Saturday, November 28. The following day, when Cuba
celebrated Armed Forces Day, the top military brass, led by
President Raul Castro, congratulated itself on the success of
the exercises, which they attributed to "organization, more
than weaponry." The maneuvers, called "Bastion 2009," had
not been held since 2004. The scenario for the Bastion
exercises was, once again, a U.S. invasion.
(SBU) In the days leading to the three-day exercises, the
official Cuban media tried to drum up enthusiasm in the
island. Cubans were exhorted to show their readiness to
defend themselves and repel any attack, and coverage was
nonstop. Generals went on talk shows and the radio to
promote the exercises -- based, according to one contact, on
the Communist concept of "total war" where the entire
population is mobilized for action.
(SBU) However, the population reacted with indifference.
"Before we would all be asked to do something," a local
observer told Poloff, "but this time around, nobody in my
neighborhood was asked to participate." Sirens went off on
Saturday morning in residential areas, but few bothered to
come out. Some offices and factories, we were told, used the
mobilization to clean up clutter, while the foreign press
reported exercises taking place in relaxed and haphazard
settings.
(SBU) Our contacts also dismissed notions that Bastion 2009
was meant as a message to the United States. Rather, they
say, it was meant for local consumption, to show Cubans that
their government and armed forces remain strong and capable
despite the economic difficulties that the island is facing.
Many, it seems, slept right through that message.
FARRAR