FEATURE-Cubans oblivious to what goes on inside Guantanamo
Source: Reuters
By Esteban Israel GUANTANAMO, Cuba, Feb 5 (Reuters) - As international prisoners in the U.S. "war on terror" languish at its naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cubans living nearby are completely unaware of what goes on inside the base. Some younger Cubans in the town of Guantanamo yearn for the music, clothes and gadgets of the United States, but the older generation are staunch supporters of ailing President Fidel Castro, and life goes on as if the base didn't exist. "Things are so quiet in Guantanamo that we didn't even realize the Americans had brought Talibans to the base," said Gines, a 40-year-old physical training instructor, who gave only his last name. The first prisoners arrived in January, 2002, after U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan for harboring al Qaeda, the group behind the attacks on the United States of Sept. 11, 2001. U.S. military prosecutors filed charges against three of the prisoners on Feb. 2, after the U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down a military tribunal system used to try 10 prisoners. The legal status of the prisoners and the concern about their conditions has drawn criticism on the United States from around the world, and strained relations with Australia over David Hicks, an Australian being held at the base. But the international furore has largely passed by the baking-hot streets of Guantanamo, a town of 200,000 people at the eastern tip of the island and 18 miles (25 km) north of the base. "I've lived here for 65 years and I've never seen the base. It's as if it didn't exist," said Carmen, who asked that her last name not be used. The 45 square mile (117 sq km) base is home to the only McDonald's restaurant on the island of Cuba, but eating there is out of the question for Cubans. An 18-mile (28 km) security perimeter around the facility is mined and some Cubans have lost legs trying to defect. On the streets of Guantanamo, cars are few and far between, bicycles plentiful and U.S. influence scant. The local hero is Cuba's only cosmonaut, Arnaldo Tamayo, who ventured into space in 1980 aboard the Soviet Union's Soyuz 38. His reentry capsule is on show in a local square. Perhaps the only U.S. presence is the radio station that broadcasts from inside the base. "Let it roll, baby, roll," blares a radio to the driving beat of "Roadhouse Blues" by the The Doors. "The music the Americans play is fantastic. You can't hear that on our radio stations," said Carlos, 28, sipping rum with friends in a square. Like many younger Cubans, he sees the United States as a land of opportunity where he would go if he could. Older Cubans avoid listening to Radio Gitmo. "I simply ignore it," said Heriberto, 73. The United States seized the entrance to Guantanamo Bay in the Spanish-American War, which brought Cuban independence from Spain in 1898. The U.S. Navy built a base there in 1903 to supply coal to its ships protecting the approaches to the Panama Canal. The U.S. military has been eyeball-to-eyeball with Cuba at Guantanamo Bay since Castro came to power in a revolution in 1959, and it is one of the last frontiers of the Cold War. Over the years, the Cuban armed forces have sought to avoid confrontation with their superpower enemy, and tensions even eased a little over U.S. efforts to round up al Qaeda suspects. "The United States and Cuba have long sparred over Guantanamo Bay, but a fragile peace has existed on this issue since the U.S. launched the war on terror," said Dan Erikson, of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. When the first Taliban and al Qaeda suspects were taken to the base five years ago -- shackled and blindfolded in bright orange jumpsuits -- Cuba did not object. In early 2002, Gen. Raul Castro, Cuba's Defense Minister and now acting president for his ailing brother, told reporters Cuba and the United States had no differences in the war on terrorism, as he looked at the base through binoculars. "If a prisoner manages to escape ... he will be captured and returned to the Americans," Raul Castro said. That stance changed in 2003 after accusations of torture employed at the base and in prisons in Iraq. Fidel Castro denounced it as a "concentration camp." On Jan. 11, Cuba allowed U.S. "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan and relatives of detainees to march to the fence to demand its closure. But demonstrators were not allowed closer than a Cuban checkpoint five miles (7 km) from the base. Nevertheless, cooperation on security around the base -- there are almost daily telephone calls -- is one of the only channels of communication between Cuba and the United States. The base's commander, Capt. Mark Leary, has breakfast once a month with the Cuban general in charge of guarding Cuba's side. "While Cuba rejects the U.S. claim to the base, on a practical level the Cuban government has used its presence to forge ties with the U.S. military," Erikson said.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
