Deployment of US War Submarine in Guantanamo; Canadian Patrol Vessel Enters Havana Waters

On Friday, June 15, just hours after the United States announced the deployment of a war submarine at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba, a Canadian naval patrol vessel also entered Cuban waters. These actions followed the arrival of Russian warships in Cuba in recent days. A nuclear-powered submarine and three Russian naval ships entered Havana Bay on Wednesday, June 14. The convergence of Russian, American, and Canadian ships in Cuba recalls the old Cold War tensions and the current turbulent relations between Russia and Western countries over Ukraine. This island nation, under communist rule, is located 160 kilometers from the state of Florida in the southern United States. However, both the US and Cuba state that the Russian warships do not pose a threat to the region. Russia has also described the deployment of its ships to Cuba as routine. The frigate 'Admiral Gorshkov' and the nuclear submarine 'Kazan' headed to Havana after conducting training on 'high-precision missile weapons' in the Atlantic Ocean. The Canadian patrol vessel 'Margaret Brooke' began its maneuvers to enter Havana harbor in the early hours of Friday. According to the US Southern Command, the fast-attack submarine 'Helena' has been deployed for a routine operation at the naval base located in Guantanamo Bay, 850 kilometers southeast of Havana. The US and Canada emphasize that their deployment of warships is unrelated to the presence of Russian ships in Cuba. During the Cold War, Cuba was a close ally of the former Soviet Union, and tensions with Washington over communism in this 'backyard' peaked during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Moscow, which has maintained its relations with Havana, considers the concerns raised over the arrival of its ships in Cuba to be unfounded. Russian warships are expected to remain in Havana harbor until next week.