This CIA intelligence report from 1985 focuses on Soviet and Soviet-allied insurgent training programs across the developing world, including Latin America. While the document is not exclusively centered on Latin America, it repeatedly references Soviet cooperation with Cuba and other Soviet-aligned nations to train revolutionary and insurgent groups opposed to American-backed governments during the Cold War to fight in various proxy wars that were common in the Cold War era. Training for these insurgents included military instruction, guerrilla warfare tactics, intelligence operations, ideological education, and political organization. Specifically, Cuba’s role in Soviet operations was highlighted again and again, which logically makes sense due to Cuban soldiers being deployed often with Soviet troops in the form of advisory roles but also because they could help bridge the language gap. However, a “substantial portion” of insurgent training was conducted by Cuban experts, showing that they were more than translators.
Unlike American military involvement, which was often viewed negatively in Latin America because of direct intervention and troop deployment, as well as the focus of clandestine operatives conducting what seemed like rouge operatives (the CIA), Soviet influence was sometimes viewed posivetly not only due to the usage of Cuban and Latin American translators but also because many Latin American nations saw the effects of continual US intervention in areas like Cuba and Panama.
Source:
CIA. 1985. Soviet and Soviet Surrogate Training of Insurgents. Central Intelligence Agency. August 1985.