We needed to distract people from drinking. Every evening, we organized movie screenings. But we had already watched all the films we brought from the Union, and the question arose: where could we find new films? I solved this problem. The fact is that our ships constantly arrived at the port of Santiago. And on the ships, as always, there was a large number of films for the crew. So, I brought them our films that we had already watched and took their films in exchange. Of course, during these exchanges, I took a bottle of local Bacardi rum to facilitate more successful negotiations.

For the November 7th holiday, I asked the ship’s captain to send a congratulatory telegram to my wife, as if I were a member of the ship’s crew, where I informed her of our location using a prearranged code.

Life gradually returned to normal. From mid-December, if my memory serves me right, regular flights began specifically for our troop group. We were allowed to write letters home, with the return address being Moscow-400. Periodical press began to arrive regularly. This greatly facilitated my work. My presentations to the officers, soldiers, and sergeants became more substantive and interesting because I would review all the incoming press before speaking.

In early December, we propagandists were gathered in Havana for a seminar. Employees of the Main Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy, journalists, and several other leaders spoke to us. I remember Genrikh Borovik speaking. He had quite a sharp tongue, and we listened with interest. Most of all, I remember the speech by Colonel Cherepanov from Glavpur. He told us how they worried about us in Glavpur. Everyone was concerned whether we would reach our destination and they stayed glued to the receivers day and night to know how things were going. Colonel Cherepanov informed us that the General Staff was not sure that we would all make it to Cuba. The General Staff had planned that about 25% of the personnel sent to Cuba might end up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The fact that we all reached our destination pleased Colonel Cherepanov greatly. At that time, I didn’t attach much importance to this “revelation” from Cherepanov. On the contrary, I even mentally praised the General Staff for so well considering the possible losses. Only much later did it dawn on me that the General Staff had planned to feed me to the sharks in the Atlantic Ocean. I remembered the ominous instructions from Marshal Kazakov to the ship’s captain: “in case of a threat of capture by the enemy, do not surrender the cargo.” And the cargo was us, 480 soldiers, sergeants, and officers. Open the kingstons, the crew to the lifeboats, and us, the cargo, to the bottom of the ocean. That’s how boldly, without any responsibility for the lives of tens of thousands of people, the General Staff planned their death. Just like in some collective farm, they planned to write off a certain amount of livestock. Say, for sale. But what’s there to be surprised about?

When did Russia, the Soviet Union, ever care about the lives of soldiers, sergeants, officers? Let’s look at history. Why did the Russian emperors send millions of Russian soldiers to protect the interests of Austria, Prussia, and other countries? How many millions of Russian soldiers fell in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and other countries? And how many millions of people died in both the first and second world wars, thanks to the stupidity and incompetence of our marshals and generals? It’s terrifying to recall the Great Patriotic War, especially the first period of the war. A vivid indicator of the incompetence and stupidity of our “commanders” is Chechnya. When people talk about the mass heroism shown by our people, I always have a question: Whose mass stupidity were they forced to show mass heroism because of? Unfortunately, it is not customary for us to answer such a question. But since we remained alive, let’s continue the story about Cuba. The fact that I served as a propagandist in the political department of the regiment gave me the opportunity to study what Cuba was like at the time of our stay there. I read all the literature about Cuba that was available to me.

The history of Cuba is very interesting. The Cuban people fought tenaciously against slavery. Cuba was the first state in Latin America where slavery was abolished. I read a lot about José Martí, who is a national hero for Cubans. In front of every school in Cuba, there is a monument to José Martí. In the center of Havana, where rallies are held, there is also a huge monument to José Martí. It’s somewhat similar to how we used to erect monuments to Lenin. I also read a lot about the revolutionary activities of Fidel Castro. There is a book called “The Green Lizard.” Cuba indeed resembles a green lizard. The book fascinatingly tells how on July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro and his friends attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba with the aim of inciting an uprising against the regime of Batista, the then dictator of Cuba. The attempt failed. Soon after, Fidel was arrested and exiled to the Isle of Pines. Under public pressure, he was released two years later and moved to Mexico for more thorough preparation to fight against Batista’s regime. On January 1, 1959, the revolution led by Fidel Castro was victorious.

While in Cuba, I witnessed many interesting events that occurred in the political life of this wonderful island, but unfortunately, I turned to this event too late when the fate of all humanity hung by a thread, when we were too close to the edge of the abyss. There was a desire to keep a diary. Now, a diary of those days would have been of invaluable help to me. But I knew very well the political system I lived in. My records were secretly combed through me repeatedly. Of course, I was a propagandist, and the corresponding authorities closely monitored what I was propagating to the personnel. Much has been forgotten, but some things are still remembered.

So, what was Cuba like by the year 1962? Everything I will write about Cuba will be in relation to the years 1962/63. Cuba is an island state. The length of Cuba is 1100 km. The width at the widest point is 120 km, and at the narrowest, it is 30 km. The population, when we were there, was about 7 million people, 30% of whom were black. The main activity was harvesting sugarcane and producing sugar. Cuba exports sugar, nickel, tobacco, and citrus fruits. In terms of sugar exports, Cuba holds a leading position in the world market. Cuba can supply up to 7 million tons of sugar to the world market when the demand for sugar is 16-20 million tons. In terms of nickel reserves, Cuba ranks second in the world after Canada. Cuba does not have a sufficient amount of energy resources, so it is very dependent on the import of petroleum products. Cuba’s annual need is 4 million tons of oil. During the period of our stay there, the entire life of Cubans depended on the availability of petroleum products. Just 15 days without importing oil, and life in Cuba would come to a standstill. By the way, this is exactly what America was counting on by declaring an economic blockade against Cuba. They believed that Cuba, without petroleum products, would kneel before America, but here the Soviet Union came to Cuba’s aid, and Cuba began to regularly receive the energy resources it needed.

The prolonged dominance of America in Cuba had very serious negative consequences for the social, economic, and cultural position of the country. The people were poorly educated. We saw this at the general education level of preparation of the middle-level commanders of the Cuban army. Without exaggeration, it can be said that their preparation barely corresponded to the preparation of our 3rd or 4th-grade students. Whenever we stopped somewhere, in a populated area, to drink water or buy fruits, a bunch of children immediately surrounded us, insistently asking for cigarettes, money, etc. Rich Americans had accustomed them to such a life. The people lived very poorly. In Santiago, I saw an entire district where houses were constructed from some boxes, barrels, dry palm branches, and people lived there, of course, without any conveniences. But there, in Santiago, was a district of indescribable beauty called Manduley.

Houses of stunning beauty were nestled in greenery. In general, it was a paradise on earth where Americans lived before the revolution. Terrible poverty and magnificent wealth. I saw all this in Cuba in 1962. And now, to see all these “charms” of capitalism, there’s no need to go anywhere. We have all these “charms” here, and even in excess.

I had to visit the divisions of the regiment throughout the eastern province of Cuba. Therefore, I had the opportunity to see how Cubans live. I saw houses made of palm branches. The houses had no furniture, and instead of dishes, there were tin cans. Children were in rags. I saw a 12-year-old boy, completely naked. Of course, Fidel wanted to quickly boost the country’s economy, improve people’s lives, but it’s one thing to want and another to achieve it. Before the revolution, a large part of the Cubans’ income came from tourism, but the revolution brought tourism to a halt. The Soviet Union provided significant assistance in boosting the country’s economy. With the help of the USSR, many facilities necessary for the country’s development were built, but unemployment remained. Therefore, although prostitution was officially banned, it continued to exist semi-legally. Many Cubans living in the eastern province worked at the Guantanamo naval base. For us, it was incomprehensible. How could one work at the naval base of a potential enemy? But unemployment is the whole answer. Nevertheless, Cubans are an optimistic and life-loving people. Like all of Latin America, they love festivals. There are national Cuban festivals and local ones. Every day, a festival takes place in some locality. I managed to attend the July 26th festival in Santiago de Cuba. The spectacle was indescribably beautiful. The festival usually starts around 8 pm. By this time in Cuba, it’s already dark and cool after the day’s heat. The festival lasts until 4-5 am. Everyone is out on the street. Large trucks with dropped sides parade down the city’s central street. The trucks are beautifully decorated. In the middle of the body, there are small stands on which Cuban beauties gracefully stand. Behind the trucks, a large group of women and men, like Indians, aborigines, followed. Orchestras play in all the squares and parks. Cuban and Latin American dance melodies are performed. They are very beautiful and rhythmic. Everywhere meat of pigs is roasted, pies are offered, cold beer is available. There are no drunk people. No conflict situations. No vulgarity, no hooliganism. I once compared how they celebrate holidays and how we do. There’s a colossal difference. Our main task during the holidays is to eat to the point of bursting, to drink until we lose consciousness. Otherwise, it’s not a holiday. Honestly, I envied the Cubans that they know how to celebrate their holidays so beautifully. For the whole year that I was in Cuba, I did not see a single drunk Cuban. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the representatives of “developed socialism.” Personally, A.I. Mikoyan had to deal with a heavy tragic case when our completely drunk captain in a car ran over and killed the pregnant wife of the chief of the Cuban army’s general staff. As they say, there’s nowhere further to jump. Our senior lieutenant bursts into a meeting of the officers of the Cuban division, of course drunk, insults the division commander, and yells, “We feed you, we protect you.” In Havana, in pharmacies, signs appeared in Russian saying “no alcohol for sale.” The fact is that in Cuba, alcohol is sold in pharmacies for medical purposes, and very cheaply. Not a single sane Cuban could imagine that alcohol could be drunk. Our valiant officers, seeing cheap alcohol, began to snatch alcohol from the pharmacy by the liter, not by the gram as was customary for Cubans. It’s very unpleasant to admit this, but in many ways, we did not set the best example for the Cubans.

Finally, the period of uncertainty about our stay in Cuba ended for us. We were tasked with training the personnel of the Cuban army on our equipment and subsequently transferring our combat equipment to the Cuban army.

To be continued…