HAVANA — Cuba’s armed forces launched three days of intense military exercises across the island Thursday, a mobilization that state-controlled media say is designed to guard against a U.S. invasion.
Americans focused on a U.S. military assault more likely are thinking about how President Barack Obama will pursue war in Afghanistan — not Cuba. But the siege mentality of the Cold War hasn’t faded on the island, where the communist government continues to warn about imperialist aggression and the menace from the north.
The exercises, which run through Saturday, are the first since President Raul Castro took over for his brother Fidel in February 2008 — and since relations between Havana and Washington began to thaw somewhat under Obama.
The U.S. leader has loosened financial and travel restrictions on Cuba. The two countries have begun negotiations on restarting direct mail service, and there is talk of future cooperation on counter-narcotics and disaster relief, among other things.
More than the specifics, officials on both sides speak of a new tone between Havana and Washington that has made further progress a possibility.
But the rhetoric connected with Thursday’s mobilization displayed none of that new warmth.
Radio Rebelde said the attack was aimed at “confronting a possible aggression by North American imperialism.” The state-run newspaper Granma called the mobilization the largest and most important in more than five years.
The exact number of troops involved is not known, but past exercises have involved hundreds of thousands of people — both uniformed and civilian.
“The current political-military situation that characterizes the confrontation between Cuba and the U.S. government has made these strategic exercises a necessity of the first order,” said an article on the Radio Rebelde website.
Analysts say Cuba is more concerned with sending a message to those who would seek to destabilize the country than with an actual military assault.
“I don’t think it is so much that they expect an invasion,” said Hal Klepak, a Cuba military expert and professor emeritus at the Royal Military College of Canada. “I think what they worry about is disorder in Cuba of any kind that would lead to blood in the streets.”
