VZCZCXRO7687
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHUB #0721 3381150
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 041150Z DEC 09
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4966
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCOGCA/COMNAVBASE GUANTANAMO BAY CU PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000721 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/PD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2019 
TAGS: CU PGOV PM PREL
SUBJECT: MILITARY EXERCISES FAIL TO ROUSE CUBANS 
 
(SBU) Cuba mobilized as many cameras and reporters as it did 
soldiers for island-wide military exercises that concluded on 
Saturday, November 28.  The following day, when Cuba 
celebrated Armed Forces Day, the top military brass, led by 
President Raul Castro, congratulated itself on the success of 
the exercises, which they attributed to "organization, more 
than weaponry."  The maneuvers, called "Bastion 2009," had 
not been held since 2004.  The scenario for the Bastion 
exercises was, once again, a U.S. invasion. 
(SBU) In the days leading to the three-day exercises, the 
official Cuban media tried to drum up enthusiasm in the 
island.  Cubans were exhorted to show their readiness to 
defend themselves and repel any attack, and coverage was 
nonstop.  Generals went on talk shows and the radio to 
promote the exercises -- based, according to one contact, on 
the Communist concept of "total war" where the entire 
population is mobilized for action. 
(SBU) However, the population reacted with indifference. 
"Before we would all be asked to do something," a local 
observer told Poloff, "but this time around, nobody in my 
neighborhood was asked to participate."  Sirens went off on 
Saturday morning in residential areas, but few bothered to 
come out.  Some offices and factories, we were told, used the 
mobilization to clean up clutter, while the foreign press 
reported exercises taking place in relaxed and haphazard 
settings. 
(SBU) Our contacts also dismissed notions that Bastion 2009 
was meant as a message to the United States.  Rather, they 
say, it was meant for local consumption, to show Cubans that 
their government and armed forces remain strong and capable 
despite the economic difficulties that the island is facing. 
Many, it seems, slept right through that message. 
FARRAR