Cuba
Country Spotlight
When the USSR began constructing ballistic missile sites in Cuba in the early 1960s, Cuba became the location of the most heated confrontation of the Cold War between the US and USSR. Since then, it has not been known to possess a nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons program. It is also not believed to have ballistic missiles.
See Cuba’s performance in
Region South America, Central America, and the Caribbean
1963 Date of the Cuban Missile Crisis
1962 US begins trade embargo against Cuba
1995 Date Cuba signs the Treaty of Tlatelolco
Nuclear
- Began construction of a nuclear power plant with the help of the USSR in the 1980s, but abandoned the project in 1997
- Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Treaty of Tlatelolco, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)
- No evidence of possessing or pursuing a nuclear weapons program
- Acceded to the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) in 2009
Biological
- Many unsubstantiated allegations in the past of a Cuban biological weapons program
- Possesses an advanced biotechnology capability
- Party to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) since 1976
- Has implemented framework for authorization and inspections related to enforcing the BTWC through biosafety and biosecurity
Missile
- Location of Soviet ballistic missile installations in the 1960s causing Cuban Missile Crisis
- Allegedly assisted North Korea in evading sanctions meant to impede import of missile technology
- Does not possess ballistic missiles
Chemical
- Does not possess a chemical weapons program
- Ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997