946 Chapter 7
MID#2225
Dispute Number: 2225
Date(s): August 30, 1979 to November 20, 1979
Participants: 365 Russia, 40 Cuba/2 United States of America
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: A US State Department spokesperson announced on August 31, 1979, that
aerial photographs had produced evidence of a Soviet troop presence in Cuba of up
to 3,000 infantry forces. The confirmation of this Soviet presence triggered fears in
the Carter administration that the US Senate would fail to ratify the SALT II treaty,
signed by Carter and Brezhnev the previous June. Cuba’s Fidel Castro contended that
the photographs only showed a training center, one that the United States had known
about since 1962. In response to the Soviet presence, Carter issued a statement declar-
ing that a full-time Caribbean joint task force headquarters would be established in the
Florida Keys, that military maneuvers in the Caribbean would be expanded, and that
the American military presence in Guantanamo Bay would be increased. The SALT
II treaty was ratified by the Senate on November 19.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from August 31, 1979. Outcome changed from
Unclear. Settlement changed from None.
MID#2226
Dispute Number: 2226
Date(s): March 13, 1980 to March 19, 1980
Participants: 2 United States of America, 20 Canada, 200 United Kingdom, 210
Netherlands, 260 German Federal Republic, 325 Italy, 385 Norway/365 Russia
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The United States announced the creation of a NATO “Rapid Deployment
Unit” designed to combat Soviet Expansion in Western Europe and elsewhere. This
announcement coincided with NATO exercises in the Arctic Circle titled the “Anorak
Express.”
MID#2228
Dispute Number: 2228
Date(s): May 12, 1981 to May 14, 1981
Participants: 2 United States of America/365 Russia
Outcome (and Settlement): Released (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The United States detained a Soviet plane at Dulles International on May
12, 1981. The plane was containing questionable cargo with no export papers. How-
ever, the containers turned out to be legitimate and the cargo and plane were released
two days later.