Diaz-Canel recalls US illegal occupation of naval base in Guantanamo

Havana, Feb 23 (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Thursday recalled the 120th anniversary of the illegal occupation by the United States of the naval base in Guantanamo, in eastern Cuba, and the establishment of a military base there.

February 23, 2023
11:47

It has been 120 years of imposition against the Cuban people’s will, theft of sovereignty, and illegality, which also wounds other nations for its use as a lawless prison, Diaz-Canel wrote on Twitter.

After the US intervention in the Spanish-Cuban War in 1898, it was the first port occupied by the US Navy. From there, the invasion of Puerto Rico and the Battle of Santiago de Cuba were organized.

The Guantanamo Naval Base started up operations in December 1903, and was the spearhead for the invasions of the remaining countries in the region, from where a major part of the US ships that made incursions into Mexico in 1914, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Guatemala departed from that place.

After the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, a high-security military prison was established in that enclave, which has been the scenario of inhumane treatment of prisoners and is part of the system of detention camps maintained by the United States abroad.

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