Free Republic

Madrid-based Prisoners Defenders, an NGO focused on Cuban human rights, reported that the Cuban and Russian governments signed an agreement in which Cuba would send soldiers to join the war in Ukraine. Such a development raises many important questions. The Wagner Group’s dramatic failed mutiny displayed something the Kremlin knew long ago: the group, including its leader, Yevgeny Prighozin, has become a problem for Russia, particularly on the Ukrainian front. The group had little military training and served as cannon fodder in the war. Thousands of its fighters fell in battle. Wagner was convenient to Russia, as many of its...

HAVANA (AP) — The names, ranks and ages of the 32 Cuban military personnel killed during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces were published Tuesday by the Cuban government, which announced two days of mourning. Among the deceased are colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains, as well as some reserve soldiers, ranging in age from 26 to 60. The uniformed personnel belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, Cuba's two main security agencies. The publication did not specify their missions or exactly how they died.

On Tuesday, veteran political strategist and Trump adviser Roger Stone published an exclusive bombshell report scrutinizing Florida Congressman Carlos Giménez (FL-28) for turning a blind eye as Crowley Maritime Corporation—a Florida-based Department of Defense contractor—runs cargo and freight operations in Cuba’s Mariel Port under the direct supervision of the Cuban military. Crowley Maritime, a DoD contractor holding $2.3 billion in Defense Freight Transportation Services (DFTS) contracts and $343 million in Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) contracts, has operated in Cuba since 2001 under authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Its operations in Cuba, where the Castro regime military...

The Miami Herald is reporting Hugo Chávez early demise was recognized long before the rest of the world was privvy to the details of a late diagnosed and lethal cancer. With the help of Cuban brothers Fidel and Raúl, and Chávez' hand-picked successor Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan presidential election was moved from December 2012 to October 2012, two months that the report says were crucial. In October Chávez could still stand before his supporters to applaud his re-election, but there was no certainty that he could do so in December. He returned to Cuba for a fourth round of cancer treatments in early...

Cuba began its biggest military maneuvers in five years on Thursday, saying they were needed to prepare for a possible invasion by the United States. Despite a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations and assurances last week by President Barack Obama that the United States has no intention of invading the island 90 miles from Florida, Cuba's state-run press quoted military leaders as saying there "exists a real possibility of a military aggression against Cuba." The war games, which are being called "Bastion 2009," also will get the military ready to deal with social unrest the United States may try to foment...

HAVANA -- Cuba has ordered a study of its military recruitment program, hoping to enlist more young men in the armed forces during a period in which authorities say they are increasingly concerned about a U.S.-led military attack. A special commission to "study, propose and control (military) recruitment policies and their ties with the nation's education program" will be created under a decree signed July 2 by President Fidel Castro and his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro. "In the last years, the politico-military situation has deteriorated considerably, creating a new situation that has elevated international tensions against our country," the...