Cuban-Soviet Relations: Directions of Influence

Abstract

Havana and Moscow share a relationship of mutual benefits and costs, where each side values the other’s assets. Havana relies on Moscow’s economic and military aid — about US $4–5 billion annually — as vital support facilitating Cuba’s key policy goals: defence against US threats, economic survival, and prominence in the Third World. Moscow uses Cuba’s geostrategic proximity to the United States and backing of Third World revolutionary movements to undermine US power in Latin America and other Third World arenas. Neither Moscow nor Havana dominates the other, but each strives to maximise its benefits and minimise costs in their relations.