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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Soviet Union
Index
In 1977 and 1978, the Soviet Union airlifted large numbers of
Cuban troops into Ethiopia to help defeat an incursion by Somalia
into the disputed Ogaden region. Somalia had signed a treaty of
friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union in 1974 and had
received large amounts of Soviet arms. The Soviet leadership,
however, ended this relationship in 1977 and switched support to
Ethiopia because of Ethiopia's much greater population and economic
resources and because of its location on the strait of Bab al
Mandab, which links the Horn of Africa to inland Africa and the Red
Sea to the Gulf of Aden. During the 1980s, the Soviet Union moved
toward normalizing relations with Somalia but appeared to be
waiting for a change in regime before attempting to greatly improve
contacts.
Data as of May 1989
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