ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the Soviet Union's policy for military assistance and transfers to the governments of Cuba and Nicaragua, during the first Ronald Reagan administration. It considers the scope and significance of the Soviet military presence in the context of both the regional crisis and the USSR's overall relations with the United States. Soviet military assistance to the Sandinista government began shortly after the triumph of the revolution and came in the form of establishing interstate links between the countries. The historical tendency of Soviet-Cuban military cooperation reveals it to have remained relatively constant—in terms of figures—for two decades and has only been increased at times of particular tension in United States-Cuban relations. The Cuban leadership acknowledged this increase in Soviet military assistance. Mikhail Gorbachev implied that it would require a relatively peaceful and stable relationship with the rival superpower to realize this goal.
