Mariel Airport

Geopolitical and economic factors. The primary reason for its closure as an active airbase was the end of the Cold War and the subsequent withdrawal of the Soviet (later Russian) military brigade from Cuba. With its primary user gone, the Cuban government, facing the severe economic crisis of the 'Special Period' following the loss of Soviet subsidies, lacked the resources and strategic need to maintain the base at its former operational level. The land was later designated for a new national economic project.

The site has been completely repurposed and integrated into the **Mariel Special Development Zone (Zona Especial de Desarrollo Mariel - ZEDM)**, Cuba's most important economic project. The former runway and taxiways are still clearly visible from satellite imagery but are no longer used for aviation. Instead, the paved surfaces are used as a massive staging and storage area for shipping containers from the adjacent deep-water Port of Mariel. The former military buildings and hangars have either been demolished to make way for new industrial facilities or have been repurposed for warehousing and logistics operations within the ZEDM.

Mariel Airfield was a strategically vital military installation with significant historical importance.

1. **Soviet Military Stronghold:** From the 1960s until the early 1990s, it was one of the most important Soviet military bases in the Western Hemisphere. It housed elite Soviet Air Force units, most notably a regiment of MiG-23 'Flogger' fighter jets. The base was a critical component of Cuba's air defense network and a symbol of the Soviet Union's military commitment to Cuba and its power projection capabilities in the Caribbean, just 90 miles from the United States.

2. **Cuban Missile Crisis (1962):** The Port of Mariel was a primary point of entry for Soviet military personnel and equipment during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The adjacent airfield was a key part of the massive military infrastructure buildup during that period, supporting the deployment of Soviet forces.

3. **Mariel Boatlift (1980):** The airfield played a direct logistical role in the 1980 Mariel Boatlift. The Cuban government used the airfield to fly people, including political prisoners and individuals from prisons and mental health facilities, from across Cuba to the Port of Mariel to be placed on boats bound for the United States. This event was a major moment in US-Cuba relations and had a profound demographic and political impact on South Florida.

Virtually non-existent. The land occupied by the former airport is now of immense strategic value to the Cuban economy as the core of the ZEDM and the container terminal. Re-establishing aviation operations would directly conflict with its current, critical use for port logistics and industrial development. Given the massive national and international investment in the Port of Mariel, there are no known plans or prospects for the site to ever be reopened as an airport.