Communist Party deputies in Russia want another go at the Cuban Missile Crisis

Federal lawmakers from Russia's Communist Party are calling on the Kremlin to reach out to leaders in Havana and offer to deploy Russian missiles in Cuba. The Duma deputies also want Russia to resuscitate the Lourdes signals-intelligence station located outside Havana, which the USSR built in 1962. (The station was closed in 2002, though Russia and Cuba have reportedly been discussing reopening the facility for several years already.)

The Communist party members submitted their request in letters to President Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The lawmakers cite media reports that Washington is planning to deploy M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to southeastern Turkey, which they argue would pose “a potential threat to Russian allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, namely Armenia.”

According to the Duma deputies, “it was precisely the Soviet Union's tough response to US actions that allowed the conflict to be resolved by means of mutual concessions, effectively forcing Washington to abandon its adventurist plans to deploy missiles to Turkey.

“We consider it possible in today's circumstances to use the corresponding Soviet experience in deterring US expansionist ambitions,” the Communist deputies argue.

The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis, the Caribbean Crisis, or the Missile Scare, was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning Soviet ballistic missiles deployment in Cuba. It lasted from October 14, 1962, until October 28, 1962. The conflict was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war.