Soviet Tanks Reach Cuba, May Be Sent to Nicaragua

Photographs taken by a U.S. spy plane over Cuba disclosed that 35 to 40 Soviet T-54/55 tanks and other military equipment have arrived at the port of Mariel, possibly for shipment to Nicaragua, U.S. officials said today.

The equipment was transported by a Soviet freighter and a second vessel believed to be Bulgarian, the officials said, adding that the cargo was being loaded onto a Nicaraguan ship.

The officials, who asked not to be identified, said they were not certain that the tanks have been transferred to the Nicaraguan vessel. The sources left open the possibility that the tanks are earmarked for Cuba.

The spy plane overflight Thursday was announced Friday by the Cuban Foreign Ministry and sparked a two-hour protest demonstration by an estimated 10,000 Cubans in front of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana that same day.

The Cuban announcement contended that the overflight represented a violation of Cuban airspace. It said the overflight was the first since Aug. 8.

The presence of the Soviet Bloc vessels at Mariel was first disclosed in today’s editions of the Washington Times.

At the White House, spokesman Larry Speakes, asked about the report, would not comment directly. But he charged that there has been a “steep increase” in military shipments from the Soviet Union to Nicaragua.

“It’s important to note that renewed military buildup coincides with the Sandinistas’ crackdown on civil liberties and a military offensive against a military resistance in Nicaragua,” Speakes said.

Although the spokesman said he could not provide “anything specific” regarding the content of the buildup, he repeated earlier charges that the leftist government of Nicaragua is engaging in a military buildup “that is far in excess of all of its neighbors combined, that is far in excess of any defensive needs.”

According to U.S. officials, there are now about 110 Soviet T-54/55 tanks in Nicaragua’s inventory.