104. Editorial Note

A report prepared by an Ad Hoc Committee of the United States Intelligence Board and approved by the USIB on July 11, 1961, assessed the extent of Sino-Soviet Bloc military collaboration with the Castro regime in Cuba. The report concluded that the Soviet Bloc was extending “considerable military assistance to Cuba in the form of military equipment, [Page 268] training, and technicians and advisers.” Soviet Bloc military equipment, together with purchases from Western sources, had contributed substantially to a major military buildup, strengthening Castroʼs dictatorship and giving him ground forces that were “probably now better equipped than those of any Latin American country.” His regime provided “a better base of operations for subversion and propaganda throughout Latin America than the Soviets have ever had.” For text of the report, see Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, volume X, pages 621624.