From: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1995/SDE.htm
by Major David E. Smith USMC
Although terrorism originated centuries ago, modern international
terrorism orchestrated by the Soviet Union arguably began at the
Tricontinental Conference conceived by Moscow and conducted in
Havana, Cuba during January l966.13 The purpose of the conference
was to devise a "global revolutionary strategy to counter the global
strategy of American imperialism."14 It resulted in the creation of an
African, Asian, and Latin American Solidarity Organization based in
Havana. The Conference also passed resolutions advocating outside
aid for groups fighting for "liberation". During late l966, the Cubans
opened a number of training camps for guerrilla fighters in Cuba that
were under Soviet supervision. Palestinian groups began sending
students to these facilities on the "Isle of Pines" during l966, and
upon graduation, those students spawned the terrorist groups that
exploded in the Middle East during the l97O's.
Castro's terrorism schools were under the supervision of the
Direcion General de Intelegencia (DGI). Students were flown into the
country from connecting airports, or arrived in Cuban harbors by
boat. Upon debarkation in Havana, they were segregated by
nationality and moved to their individual training locations. The
guerrilla courses lasted from three to six months. Subject material
included "tactics, weapons training, bomb making- particularly how
to blow up oil pipelines, map reading, cryptography, photography,
falsification of documents, and disguise." Illich Ramirez Sanchez,
a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal, is reputed to have received instruction at
Camp Mantonzas, Cuba, prior to further education in the USSR.15
In addition to operating a series of such camps in Cuba, Castro
exported instructors to newly opened sites in Angola and
Mozambique. Cuban instructors arrived at locations in the Middle
East after the October l973 War. During December of that year, 4O
Cuban terrorist instructors arrived in South Yemen. South Yemeni
desert training sites were protected by the Soviet and East German
secret police, and became the focal point for instructing and
sheltering terrorists from nations including Germany, Ireland, Japan,
Turkey, Iran, Italy, France, Belgium, and Palestine.16
When the Lebanese Civil War broke out it created an opportunity
for terrorist groups to operate from that country. In l978 the
Palestine Rejection Front was firmly established at a number of sites
there. In March, l978 the first team of Cuban instructors arrived at
Tyre, Lebanon. They presented a detailed eight month course of
instruction to their first class of perspective Arab terrorists. The
curriculum included street and desert fighting, attacking people and
buildings, demolitions, and sabotaging oil installations. Graduates of
the school were supplied with false passports and work permits, and
sent to various Persian Gulf countries that they were familiarized
with during training.17
Castro's support of terrorism was indicated by his Tucuman Plan,
designed to export South American revolutionaries to Western
Europe. He intended to dispatch members of the Junta for
Revolutionary Coordination (JRC) from Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia,
and Chile to Lisbon, Portugal and Paris, France. These groups were
designed to act in concert against the continent. Castro established a
special training site for these operations on a 4,OOO acre estate at
Guanabo and provided them with a three month course concentrating
on explosives, sabotage, weapons instruction, and urban operations.
The plan was foiled by European security services during l978
before numerous operations could be conducted. Nevertheless, it
underscores the global scope Castro envisioned for Cuban trained
terrorists.18
The Soviet Union also provided training for certain terrorist
groups on its homeland, as well as spearheaded training in the
territory of its Warsaw Pact allies. The Soviets sponsored terrorism
as part of an overall strategy designed to destabilize Western
Europe/NATO by supporting international and Western revolutionary
movements whose insurrectional activities would have helped
expand the communist block and further Soviet aims. In fact, a
former senior officer of Soviet Military Intelligence stated that
"ideological sympathy with the Soviet Union is unnecessary: anyone
who helps destabilize the west is our friend."19
A typical member of the Palestine Liberation Army (PLO) selected
for training behind the Iron Curtain received an orientation brief on
expected conduct while undergoing instruction, as well as ideological
orientation prior to departing for Moscow. Upon arrival he was
greeted by the PLO representative there and arrangements were
made for further travel to the individual's ultimate training
destination.20
A typical training day began with early morning physical fitness
or gymnastics exercises. As the morning progressed students
generally conducted a parade. There were several hours of daily
political orientation covering subjects as wide ranging as "Russian
Mortality Rates during World Wars I and II" to "Russian Ties to the
third World". The meat of daily instruction was education in
incendiary charges and detonators; exploding metals; the art of
mining munitions dumps, bridges, vehicles and personnel; the
rudiments of chemical and biological warfare; command field and
escape tactics; marksmanship and camouflage; the use and
employment of Soviet RPG rockets and shoulder borne Strela
missiles. Interestingly enough, the Soviets also employed Moslem
KGB officers to mix among the trainees and seek recruits for the KGB.
21
By l977 there were terrorist classes within the USSR near Baku
on the Caspian Sea 22, and near Simferopol on the Black Sea (See Map
One). There were training sites near Plauen, Karl-Marx-Stadt,
Dresden (See Map Two), Babelsberg, Klein Machsrow (See Map
Three), Schmirblitz, and the North Schwein Region of East Germany.
There were four additional sites in Bulgaria, the largest of which was
at Varna (See Map Four). There were also four more sites in
Czechoslovakia and three in Poland.23 It is clear that by the late
l97O's there was a substantial international terrorist network
supporting movements from North and South America, Europe, Asia,
and Africa.
The relationships between students and their instructors varied
immensely. For example, at one point the Soviets asked for higher
quality students from the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP). The PFLP students, for their part complained that
their Soviet hosts gave them too many political lectures and not
enough training in field operations.
A second example is in this account of the opinion the Zimbabwe
African National Union (ZANU) had of their North Korean instructors.
"Brigadier Parence Shin, the commander of the 5th Brigade, expressed his disappointment with Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) advisors, indicating that, while they were respected for their individual toughness, they were more notable for their extravagant living and lack of personal discipline, than for their ability to conduct realistic military training."24
The Soviet Union began decreasing its support of terrorism as the
l98O's progressed. By mid l987 Moscow had used its influence to
push members of the African National Congress and Palestine
Liberation Army to seek political, vice military, settlements. By
l987 there was a decline in terrorist action by most of the groups
purported to be supported by the USSR.25 By l989 the Kremlin had
toned down its rhetoric about United States and Israeli terrorist
surrogates. Foreign Minister Shevardnadze's comments to the United
Nations General Assembly clearly conveyed this new Soviet position:
"Violence on national, ethnic, or religious grounds must no longer be tolerated... .no support or sympathy should be extended to the so called movements that allow actions humiliating other nations, or use terrorist, barbaric or inhuman methods in waging their struggle."26
On the other hand, Czechoslovakia continued to sell tons of
SEMTEX (a potent plastic explosive) to East Germany and Hungary
until l989. They also sold prodigious amounts of the substance to
Libya. President Havel of Czechoslovakia stated in l99O that "the
past regime exported 1,000 tons to Libya, and yet it takes only 200
grams to blow up a plane. This means that world terrorism has
enough supplies of SEMTEX for at least l5O years."27 It is logical to
assume that the Libyans supplied movements such as the Provisional
Irish Republican Army with the explosive. Whether or not the
supply will last l5O years is debatable, but it is certain that one
sponsor of international terrorism has amassed a large stockpile of
plastic explosive for future operations.