Chinese Paramilitary Troops Reportedly Training Cuban Forces

Red Dawn: Chinese paramilitary troops reportedly training elite Cuban forces

Elizabeth Stauffer, The Western Journal

Spooked by the protests that rocked Cuba in July, the island's communist regime called out an elite security force of the country's Ministry of the Interior with training from one of China's most ruthless tools of repression

ADN Cuba, a Cuban opposition media website, reported in a Google translation on Saturday that, over the past six years the Special National Brigade, known by its Spanish acronym BEN, has been receiving special training from members of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force, a paramilitary force that specializes in riot control and fighting terrorism. The training is conducted in Cuba.

BEN troops, according to the article, are instructed in areas such as "sniper preparation and intervention tactics" among other methods of suppressing the population.

ADN notes that China is "an expert in silencing their citizens and cutting off any sign of political opposition or public disagreement that calls into question the alleged totalitarian support for the Communist Party."

Members of BEN, which was established in 1980, are known as the "Black Berets," according to ADN. Their purpose is to handle an assortment of special situations, according to ADN, and are often "mobilized to frighten and repress dissidents, opponents and independent activists."

Obviously, these forces learned their lessons from the Chinese well because their heavy-handed treatment of the protesters caught the attention of the Biden administration.

The lack of support for the Cuban protesters from President Joe Biden has been extremely disappointing. However, the Treasury Department under his administration did impose sanctions on Cuba's defense minister, Álvaro López Miera, and the Black Berets for their suppression of the peaceful protests.

One can only imagine what suppression techniques the Black Berets have learned from their Chinese mentors.

In a statement released on July 22 in which he announced the sanctions, Biden said, "Today, my Administration is imposing new sanctions targeting elements of the Cuban regime responsible for this crackdown — the head of the Cuban military and the division of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior driving the crackdown — to hold them accountable for their actions. This is just the beginning – the United States will continue to sanction individuals responsible for oppression of the Cuban people."