Cuba calls presence of US nuclear submarine at Guantanamo Bay a 'provocative escalation'

[Judi Lynn]

By Andrea RodrÍguez and Lolita C. Baldor • Published 44 mins ago • Updated 43 mins ago

https://media.nView of the warehouse facilities at the Naval base.

Cuba’s government on Tuesday called the presence of a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine at the Guantanamo Bay naval base for several days last week a “provocative escalation," while a U.S. official said it was a logistics stop by the vessel at a U.S. base on its way to maritime exercises.

A statement from Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the submarine was at the U.S. naval base on the island from July 5 to July 8. It gave no more details.

“This constitutes a provocative escalation by the United States, whose political or strategic motives are unknown,” the foreign ministry statement said.

The U.S. State Department said it does not discuss the movements of U.S. military assets.

A U.S. Defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details of a military operation, said the Navy submarine made a scheduled logistics stop at Guantanamo Bay. It then continued south to participate in UNITAS, the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise.

More:
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/cuba-calls-presence-of-us-nuclear-submarine-at-guantanamo-bay-a-provocative-escalation/3064838/

[elleng]

1. SILLY to say a "provocative escalation," clearly most likely

a scheduled logistics stop at Guantanamo Bay. It then continued south to participate in UNITAS, the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise.

Someones in Cuba hanging with russkies???

'A 1934 treaty reaffirming the lease granted Cuba and her trading partners free access through the Bay, modified the lease payment from $2,000 in gold coins per year to the 1934 equivalent value of $4,085 U.S. dollars, and added a requirement that termination of the lease requires the consent of both the U.S. and Cuban governments, or the U.S. abandonment of the base property.

Base relations with Cuba remained stable and did not significantly change until the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s, with United States and Cuban relations steadily declining as Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro aligned with the Soviet Union. The United States severed diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961, and in 1964 Castro cut off water and supply avenues to the base: since then, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay has been self-sufficient, with its own power and water sources.

During its long history the base’s activities have at times included fleet training, ship repair, refueling and resupply, migrant operations, regional humanitarian relief and disaster assistance, search and rescue support, and detention operations. Today it remains the forward, ready, and irreplaceable U.S. sea power platform in the Caribbean, giving decision makers unique options across the range of military and interagency operations.'

https://installations.militaryonesource.mil/in-depth-overview/naval-station-guantanamo-bay

[Judi Lynn]

2. The land belongs to Cuba. The base is their without Cuba's permission.

The government of Cuba has never cashed the $2,000.00 annual check the U.S. gives it for rental of the land the base sits on, even though Cuba has asked repeatedly for the base to close and U.S. Americans to leave.

[elleng]

3. Interesting; didn't know that.

'has never cashed the $2,000.00 annual check the U.S. gives it for rental,' so a dispute continues to exist.

[Judi Lynn]

4. It's true. I read an article within the last week mentioning it's still a very hot topic there.

They have been asking for their land back, to no avail, since 1959. The agreement was made in the 1800's with a U.S. puppet "President" and the price agreed upon then would be the equivalent now of around $2000.00 in gold per year! Cubans don't want any part of it, and want their own land returned to them.



~ ~ ~

Biden administration has made little progress towards goal of closing notorious Guantanamo Bay prison
Ellie Kaufman
By Ellie Kaufman, CNN
Published 8:01 AM EDT, Sun September 19, 2021

President Joe Biden has said he wants to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, where 39 detainees still reside, by the end of his term, but his administration is yet to make much progress towards meeting that goal.

The Biden administration first announced it intended to close the facility during a White House press briefing in February 2021. When asked by a reporter if the prison would be closed by the time Biden leaves office, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “that’s certainly our goal and our intention.”

But months into Biden’s term, 39 detainees remain housed at the prison in Cuba. 10 detainees have been cleared by the Guantanamo Periodic Review Board system and are eligible for release, but they have not been transferred to a different country and out of the prison yet. The Periodic Review Board system was set up during the Obama administration to determine whether detainees being held there were guilty or not.

One detainee who was already cleared for release during the Obama administration was released to his home country of Morocco in July. This was the first transfer of a detainee under Biden.

More:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/19/politics/guantanamo-state-of-play/index.html

[Scrivener7]

5. I'd have to agree. If another country, scheduled or not, parked their nuclear sub

in one of our harbors without permission, I am guessing our military would agree too.

[marble falls]

6. If the Cubans think this is the first visit by submarines to Gitmo, they are naive. Not saying I ...

... know for a fact, because even if I did know, I wouldn't know.

There is a huge US Naval base there, that has been there for over 100 years.

From wiki:

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Spanish: Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by members of the U.S. military[1]) is a United States military base located on 45 square miles (117 km2) of land and water[2] on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It has been permanently leased to the United States since 1903 as a coaling station and naval base, making it the oldest overseas U.S. naval base in the world.[3] The lease was $2,000 in gold per year until 1934, when the payment was set to match the value in gold in dollars;[4] in 1974, the yearly lease was set to $4,085.[5]

Since taking power in 1959, the Cuban communist government has consistently protested against the U.S. presence on Cuban soil, arguing that the base "was imposed on Cuba by force" and is "illegal under international law." Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, for alleged unlawful combatants captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places during the War on Terror.[6] Cases of alleged torture of prisoners[7] by the U.S. military, and their denial of protection under the Geneva Conventions, have been criticized.[8][9]

The 1903 lease has no fixed expiration date,[10] and as such it can only be ended if the US Navy decided to abandon the area or both countries agreed mutually to end the lease.



I don't think there is a need for the US to be there, but I understand why it's there and why Cuba can't force the issue. That sub is no particular provocation, but in terms of international treaties it takes a meeting of two minds to break them. Only Trump has ever unilaterally voided treaties, with Russia, and over nuclear weapons. Camp Gitmo is an abomination.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Cuba protests docking of U.S. nuclear submarine at Guantanamo Naval Base

The government of the island considers it as a provocative escalation by the United States with unknown political or strategic motives.

by OnCuba Staff OnCuba Staff July 12, 2023in Cuba-USA

The Cuban government issued this Tuesday a statement rejecting the docking between July 5 and 8 of a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine at the naval base that that country has maintained in Guantanamo Bay for 121 years.

The island’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) described the presence of the submarine as a “provocative escalation by the United States, whose political or strategic motives are unknown,” through a text published on its website.

The statement also stresses that the military base “has no strategic or military importance to the United States” and notes that so far there has been “no information” from the U.S. government regarding the “political or strategic reasons” for the submarine.

“The presence there of a nuclear submarine at this moment forces us to question what is the military reason for the event in this peaceful region of the world, against what objective it is directed and what strategic purpose it pursues,” the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in its statement.

The text emphasizes the rejection of “the U.S. military presence in Cuba and the demand that the illegally occupied territory in the province of Guantánamo be returned,” referring to the 117 square kilometers currently occupied by the military installation.

More:
https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba-usa/cuba-protests-docking-of-u-s-nuclear-submarine-at-guantanamo-naval-base/