Cuba Says It Didn't Send Soldiers to Syria to Bolster Assad

Cuba Says It Didn't Send Soldiers to Syria to Bolster Assad
BY REUTERS 10/17/15 AT 10:56 PM

The Cuban government on Saturday denied what it called an "irresponsible
and unfounded" report that it had sent troops to Syria in support of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Foreign ministry official Gerardo Penalver "categorically denies and
refutes the irresponsible and unfounded information regarding the
supposed presence of Cuban troops in the Syrian Arab Republic," a
government statement said.

The University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies
on Tuesday issued what it called an unconfirmed report from an
unspecified source that Cuban troops had been spotted in Syria "in
support of Syria's dictator Assad and Russian involvement in that country."

Fox News echoed the institute's report on Wednesday, citing an unnamed
U.S. official who "confirmed" it. The story then circulated in social media.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Thursday the U.S. government
had seen no evidence to indicate the reports were true.

Cuba sent troops to Africa in support of leftist governments in Angola
and Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s but has long since disengaged from
overseas military ventures.

In the past year it has instead reached detente with the United States,
restoring diplomatic ties with its former Cold War foe after a break of
54 years.

Source: Cuba Says It Didn't Send Soldiers to Syria to Bolster Assad -
http://www.newsweek.com/cuba-says-it-didnt-send-soldiers-syria-bolster-assad-384542