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
Tutorial on Nuclear 101
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
Cuba Biological Facilities
Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation
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
The CNS Global Missile Defense Engagements Database
Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems
Chemical
- Does not possess a chemical weapons program
- Ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997
Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation
NTI Tutorials
Treaties and Regimes Memberships
Analysis
Cuba
The Importance of Bilateral U.S.-Russian Nuclear Cooperation During Times of Political Turbulence
Pathways to Cooperation - new NTI-CENESS report
Cuba Overview
Cuba Biological Overview
Education Center