WILL THERE BE ANOTHER  second Missile Crisis IN  CUBA? …  or  IN Venezuela?

     The U.S. DECISION to build a missile defense shield in Eastern and Central Europe will create a situation similar to the Cuban missile crisis, former Russian President Vladimir Putin said in October of last year. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack immediately shook off the comparison, saying that there were “clear historical differences between our plans to deploy a defensive missile system, designed to protect against the launch of missiles from rogue states, such as Iran, and the offensive nuclear test capability of the missiles that were being installed in Cuba back in the 1960s.”  At the present, the United States seeks to deploy 10 long-range missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic. Moscow has expressed strong objection to the US missile plan which it considers as a threat to its national security.

    Reports from Russia that the government is planning to deploy nuclear capable long-range bombers to Cuba appears to be a response to the proposed US missile shield.  "While they are deploying the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, our strategic bombers will already be landing in Cuba," Russian newspaper Izvestia quoted an unnamed senior Russian air force official. It is not clear whether Moscow would reopen a base in Cuba or merely use an airfield there for stopovers by the supersonic Tu-160, a nuclear bomber known as ``White Swan,'' and the strategic bomber Tu-95, known to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the `”Bear,'' both are capable of reaching U.S. territory,

    During his latest trip to Moscow, Hugo Chavez discussed the establishment of  a strategic alliance with Russia and reached a number of agreements for purchasing military hardware. One newspaper reported that the deals could be worth up to $2 billion. "That way we can guarantee Venezuela's sovereignty, which is now threatened by the United States," Chavez said in Moscow.  He also said: “If Russia’s armed forces want to have a presence in Venezuela, they will be given a warm welcome.”  And later added: "If a Russian fleet arrives in the Caribbean, we will raise flags, beat drums, sing our national anthems and sing songs," he said. "We will act that way because they are our allies. We share similar views in our foreign affairs," Chávez insisted.  

     As a response of Russia’s threats, General Norton Schwartz, nominated for the Air Force Chief of Staff position, warned that Russia  would cross "a red line" if it used Cuba as a refueling stop for strategic nuclear bombers. Asked by members of the Senate Armed Service Committee during his confirmation hearing how he would respond to such a move, Schwartz answered: "I certainly would offer my best military advice that we should engage the Russians not to pursue that approach. And if they do it, I think we should stand strong and indicate that that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America." The heated debate about the Russian’s intentions, reminded the free nations that the Soviet nuclear missiles stationed in Cuba in 1962 during the height of the Cold War pushed the world to the brink of nuclear conflict.