Secretariat. Requests from Cuba and Grenada to enable radio transmissions to the USA (17 pp). [R 5 December 1980, St 240-43]
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English Translation by Marta Olynyk, December 2010
[Translator’s notes are bracketed]
Proletarians of the world, unite!
COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION. CENTRAL
COMMITTEE
TOP SECRET
No. St-240/43gs Dated 5/XII/1980
Extract from Report no. 240 § 43gs of the Secretariat of the CC
Concerning the Request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the
Government of Grenada
- To approve the draft of the order of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the given question (attachment no. 1).
- To confirm the text of the instructions for the Soviet Embassy in Cuba (attachment no. 2).
SECRETARY OF THE CC
Sent to:
[On the left side of this document are two lines running perpendicularly to the text: “Subject to return to the CC CPSU (General Department, II sector) within 15 days of receipt (Resol[ution] of the Secretariat of the CC CPSU dated 17 June 1976, attach.[ment] no. 12, f.[ile] 4s.”] 7mv
[At the bottom-center of the page is a rectangle with the words: “CURRENT DOCUMENTATION STORAGE CENTER, MOSCOW, ul. Il’inka, 12.”]
Secret Attachment no. 1 To f.[ile] 43gs, attachment] no. 240
Draft
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF THE USSR
ORDER
Dated December 1980
In connection with the request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government of Grenada, order the Ministry of Communications of the USSR and the GKES [State Committee for Foreign Economic Relations] to send two specialists and one translator to Grenada in 1981 at the expense of the Soviet side in order to provide assistance together with Cuban specialists with the assembly and setup of the equipment of a broadcast radio station donated to Grenada by the government of Cuba, and for the training of Grenadian technical personnel of the radio station.
The GKES will reach an agreement with the Grenadian side concerning the provision, at its expense, of housing and transport in Grenada for the Soviet specialists and the translator.
Expenditures in Soviet rubles pertaining to the dispatching to Grenada of the indicated specialists and translator are to be accredited to the allocations of the State Budget of the USSR for the rendering of cost-free assistance to foreign state, and expenditures in foreign currency—to the GKES’s budget.
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR
13l
Secret Attachment no. 2
To f.[ile] 43gs, att.[achment] no. 240
HAVANA
SOVIET EMBASSY
Meet with the member of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba, J. [Jesus] M. [Montane] Oropesa as well as with the Ambassador of Grenada to Cuba, and inform them that in connection with the appeal from the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government of Grenada, the decision has been approved to send two Soviet specialists and one translator to Grenada for the agreed-upon time in 1981 for a period of up to six months in order to provide assistance together with Cuban specialists with the assembly and setup of the equipment of a broadcast radio station given to Grenada by the Cuban side, and for the training of Grenadian technical personnel for work in it.
Inform the Ambassador of Grenada that the above-mentioned specialists and translator will be sent at the expense of the Soviet side, keeping in mind that the Grenadian side will provide housing and transport for them in Grenada at its expense.
Send a telegram concerning the implementation.
13l
sp/ns
[At the top of the page is one handwritten, mostly indecipherable, line, including the date “XII.1980.”]
[In the top-right corner is the handwritten numeral “69”]
RESOLUTION
OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CC OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY
OF THE SOVIET UNION
Concerning the Request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Government, of Grenada
- To approve the draft of the order of the Council of Ministers of the USSR about the given question (attachment 1).
- To confirm the text of instructions for the Soviet Embassy in Cuba (attachment 2).
[indecipherable signature here]
Voting Results [At right begins a vertical column of six (?)
indecipherable signatures]
6595 Extracts to Comrades Gromyko, Ponomarev, Shamshin [last
signature is indecipherable]
Circulated: 5/VII/80 Ponomarev
[In the top-right corner is the handwritten numeral
“70.”]
Secret Attachment 1
[Handwritten: “to f.[ile] 43gs, att.[achment] 240]
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF THE USSR
ORDER
From December [handwritten] 1980 Moscow, the Kremlin
In connection with the request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government of Grenada, order the Ministry of Communications of the USSR and the GKES to send two specialists and one translator to Grenada in 1981 at the expense of the Soviet side, for a period of up to six months, to provide assistance together with Cuban specialists with the assembly and setup of the equipment of a broadcast radio station given to Grenada by the government of Cuba, and for the training of Grenadian technical personnel for the radio station.
The GKES will reach an agreement with the Grenadian side about the provision of housing and transport in Grenada for the Soviet specialists and the translator at its expense.
Expenditures in Soviet rubles pertaining to the dispatching to Grenada of the indicated specialists and translator are to be accredited to the allocations of the State Budget of the USSR for the provision of cost-free assistance to foreign state, and expenditures in foreign currency—to the GKES’s budget.
(signature)
[In the top-right corner is the handwritten numeral
“70.”]
Secret
Attachment
To f.[ile 43gs, att.[achment] no. 240
HAVANA
SOVIET EMBASSY
Meet with the member of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba, J. M. Oropesa as well as with the Ambassador of Grenada to Cuba, and inform them that in connection with the appeal from the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government of Grenada, the decision has been approved to dispatch two Soviet specialists and one translator to Grenada for the agreed time in 1981 for a period of up to six months in order to provide assistance together with Cuban specialists with the assembly and setup of the equipment of a broadcast radio station donated to Grenada by the Cuban side, and for the training of Grenadian technical personnel for work in it.
Inform the Ambassador of Grenada that the above-mentioned specialists and translator will be sent at the expense of the Soviet side, keeping in mind that the Grenadian side will provide housing and transport for them in Grenada at its expense.
Send a telegram concerning the implementation.
(signature) [indecipherable] [In the top-right corner is the handwritten numeral
Secret
CC CPSU
Concerning the Request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and
the Government of Grenada
In a letter to the Soviet Embassy in Cuba Comrade J. M. Oropesa, member of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and head of the General International Department of the CC, reported on the Cuban leadership’s intention to donate to the government of Grenada, for the purposes of supporting the progressive regime in this country, a medium- wave broadcast radio station with a Soviet-made 75-kW radio transmitter in the Cubans’ possession, and made a request that Soviet specialists be dispatched to Grenada to assist the Cubans with the assembly and setup of the radio station equipment.
A request to dispatch two or three Soviet specialists to Grenada for a period of up to six months for the indicated purposes and for the training of local technical personnel for the radio station was also received from Grenada’s Deputy Prime Minister B. [Bernard] Coard, addressed to the Minister of Communications, Comrade Shamshin.
We would consider it wise to satisfy the request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government of Grenada, and send two specialists and one translator to Grenada for a period of up to six months for help with the assembly and startup of the radio station and the training of local technical personnel. At the same time, it would be
[next page is missing]
[The top of this page shows traces of indecipherable handwritten notes.]
RESOLUTION
OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CC OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY
OF THE SOVIET UNION
Concerning the Request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and
the Government of Grenada
- To approve the draft of the order of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the present question (attachment 1).
- To confirm the text of the instructions for the Soviet Embassy in Cuba (attachment 2).
(signature) [indecipherable]
Voting Results [At right begins a vertical column of six (?)
indecipherable signatures]
6595 Extracts to Comrades Gromyko, Ponomarev, Shamshin [last
signature is indecipherable]
Circulated: 5/VII/80 Ponomarev
[In the top-right corner is the handwritten numeral
“70.”]
Secret Attachment 1
[Handwritten: “to f.[ile] 43gs, att.[achment] 240]
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF THE USSR
ORDER
From December [handwritten] 1980 Moscow, the Kremlin
In connection with the request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government of Grenada, order the Ministry of Communications of the USSR and the GKES to send two specialists and one translator to Grenada in 1981 at the expense of the Soviet side, for a period of up to six months, to provide assistance together with Cuban specialists with the assembly and setup of the equipment of a broadcast radio station donated to Grenada by the government of Cuba, and for the training of Grenadian technical personnel for the radio station.
The GKES will reach an agreement with the Grenadian side about the provision of housing and transport in Grenada for the Soviet specialists and translator at its expense.
Expenditures in Soviet rubles pertaining to the dispatching to Grenada of the indicated specialists and translator are to be accredited to the allocations of the State Budget of the USSR for the rendering of cost-free assistance to foreign state, and expenditures in foreign currency—to the GKES’s budget.
(signature)
Secret
Attachment
To f.[ile 43gs, att.[achment] no. 240
HAVANA
SOVIET EMBASSY
Meet with the member of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba, J. [Jose] M. [Montane] Oropesa as well as with the Ambassador of Grenada to Cuba, and inform them that in connection with the appeal from the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government of Grenada, the decision has been approved to dispatch two Soviet specialists and one translator to Grenada for the agreed-upon time in 1981 for a period of up to six months in order to provide assistance together with Cuban specialists with the assembly and setup of the equipment of a broadcast radio station donated to Grenada by the Cuban side, and for the training of Grenadian technical personnel for work in it.
Inform the Ambassador of Grenada that the above-mentioned specialists and translator will be sent at the expense of the Soviet side, keeping in mind that the Grenadian side will provide housing and transport for them in Grenada at its expense.
Send a telegram concerning the implementation.
(signature) [indecipherable] [In the top-right corner is the handwritten numeral
“70.”]
Secret
CC CPSU
Concerning the Request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and
the Government of Grenada
In a letter to the Soviet Embassy in Cuba Comrade J. M. Oropesa, member of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and head of the General International Department of the CC, reported on the Cuban leadership’s intention to donate to the government of Grenada, for the purposes of supporting the progressive regime in this country, a medium- wave broadcast radio stations with a Soviet-made 75-KW radio transmitter in the Cubans’ possession, and issued a request that Soviet specialists be dispatched to Grenada to assist the Cubans with the assembly and setup of the radio station equipment.
A request to dispatch two or three Soviet specialists to Grenada for a period of up to six months for the indicated purposes and for the training of local technical personnel for the radio station was also received from Grenada’s Deputy Prime Minister B. [Bernard] Coard, addressed to the Minister of Communications, Comrade Shamshin.
We would consider it wise to satisfy the request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the government of Grenada, and send two specialists and one translator to Grenada for a period of up to six months for help with the assembly and startup of the radio station and the training of local technical personnel. At the same time, an understanding
should be reached with the Grenadian side about providing our two specialists and the translator with housing and transport in Grenada at its expense.
Expenditures related to the mission of the specialists and the translator in Soviet rubles (appr. 14,000 rubles) can be accredited to the allocations of the State Budget of the USSR for the provision of cost-free assistance to foreign states, while the expenditures in foreign currency (appr. seven thou[sand] rubles) [can be accredited] to the budget of the State Committee of the USSR for Foreign Economic Relations (GKES).
This has been coordinated with Deputy Minister of Communications Comrade V. N. Lebedev, Deputy Chairman of the GKES Comrade I. I. Chernysh, and Deputy Minister of Finances of the USSR Comrade S. M. Borisov.
The draft of the resolution of the CC CPSU is appended.
Deputy Head of the International Department of the CC CPSU
(V. Zagladin)
1 December 1989 18-S-2103
[In the top-right corner is the handwritten notation “incoming 1873” followed by the handwritten numeral
“80.”]
[Official seal]
Secret copy no. 1
CC CPSU 2nd Sector
[possibly “28”]NOV 80 CONTROL
[indecipherable line]
At the request of the International Department of the CC CPSU (Comrade A. S. Cherniaev), we are forwarding the letter from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finances, Planning, and Trade of Grenada, Bernard Coard, which was received through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR.
Attachment: mentioned, to be archived under no. 0503, 2 non-classified sheets. Only to the addressee.
(signature) V. N. Lebedev
[In the bottom-left corner is a square stamp containing mostly indecipherable text, except for “27 NOV 80.”]
[In the top-right corner are two short indecipherable handwritten lines of text, including “To outgoing no. 457”
and the handwritten numeral “81.”]
Translated from the English 29 October 1980
To V. A. Shamshin,
Minister of Communications
of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Dear Comrade Shamshin,
First of all, please accept my best wishes in connection with your recent promotion to the post of Minister of Communications of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
As you already know, the Republic of Cuba has donated equipment for a medium-wave radio station to Grenada. In keeping with the agreement reached with the Ministry of Communications of Cuba, it will be built together with Cuban and [indecipherable word] specialists; the station will be equipped with a Soviet-built DSV 75-kW transmitter.
The Cuban side thinks that for the speedier setup of the transmitter, as well as for its more effective work, it would be wise to carry out the assembly and exploitation of the radio transmitter during the initial stage under the supervision of Soviet specialists.
For that [indecipherable word] and also being aware of your readiness to offer help, I am requesting your help in sending 2-3 specialists to Grenada for a period of up to 6 months to provide cooperation in the assembly and usage of this radio transmitter, as well as for consultations on technical questions.
These specialists will be supervising the assembly and setup of the equipment, and teaching the Grenadian service personnel the guidelines governing usage and technical servicing.
They should arrive in Grenada after the completion of the construction of the radio station building. However, at this time it does not appear to be possible to designate the date; I will be glad to inform you as soon as possible [indecipherable word/s] of the completed work. We envisage that these specialists will be required during the first quarter of 1981.
33063
[indecipherable words, letter continues on next page]
In conclusion, dear Comrade Shamshin, allow me to wish you the greatest successes in the execution of your difficult duties and to thank you for your undoubted participation in [this] important matter that I have imposed on you.
Respectfully,
Bernard Coard,
Member of the Politburo,
Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister of Finances, Planning, and Trade
Translated by: A. Bogatyr (signature)
[In the top-right corner is an indecipherable handwritten notation, followed by “To outgoing no.434” followed by the
handwritten numeral “83.”]
Translated from the Spanish
[At right is a rectangular stamp containing the following
text]: CC CPSU, 2nd Sector, 17 NOV 80, 3514, SUBJECT TO RETURN TO THE GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF THE CC CPSU
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba 7 October 1980
“Year of the II Party Congress”
To Comrade V. I. Vorotnikov Ambassador of the USSR City of Havana
Dear Comrade Vorotnikov!
As you know, the revolution in Grenada is in need of broad international solidarity and assistance.
With this goal, our leadership is intending, along with the adoption of other measures of this kind, to present Grenada with a medium-wave radio station equipped with a Soviet-built 75-kW radio transmitter, the same kind that is working at the present time in our radio station in Villa-Maria (city of Havana).
This type of transmitter is the only one in our country. It was assembled by Soviet specialists with the participation of Cuban personnel. Taking into consideration that the experience gained by our technicians during the setup of this equipment (which was carried out not only under the direction of specialists from the USSR but also to a great degree by them personally) is actually insufficient, it appears reasonable to count on the cooperation of Soviet specialists in the assembly of such equipment in Grenada.
For that very reason we are requesting that you transmit this application of ours to the Central Committee of the CPSU so that the communications ministries of Cuba and the USSR will coordinate their actions concerning the realization of the given project.
I am taking this opportunity once again to convey our fraternal greetings to you, and at the same time we are thanking you in advance for your support and cooperation, which you will not fail to honor our request.
Jesus Montane Oropesa
Translated by: Iu. Mishin (signature)
SECRET
[handwritten numeral “86” in top-right corner]
[Seal of the USSR] [indecipherable day] DEC 80 34273
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF THE USSR
ORDER
Dated 8 December 1980, 2512-rs
Moscow, the Kremlin
In connection with the request of the CC of the Communist Party of Cuba and the Government of Grenada, order the Ministry of Communications of the USSR and the GKES to dispatch two specialists and one translator to Grenada in 1981 at the expense of the Soviet Side for a period of up to six months in order to provide assistance, together with Cuban specialists, with the assembly and setup of equipment of a broadcast radio station, which was donated to Grenada by the Government of Cuba, and for the training of Grenadian technical personnel of the radio station.
The GKES is to reach an understanding with the Grenadian Side concerning the provision, at its expense, of housing and transport in Grenada for the Soviet specialists and translator.
Expenditures in Soviet rubles pertaining to the dispatching to Grenada of the indicated specialists and translator are to be accredited to the allocations of the State Budget of the USSR for the rendering of cost-free assistance to foreign state, and expenditures in foreign currency—to the GKES’s budget.
[circular seal of the Executive Office of the Council of Ministers of the USSR]
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N. Tikhonov
PRS
3+31
[In the bottom right-hand corner are several indecipherable
words and possibly a signature]
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