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Overview Author: Siro del Castillo* Located in the entrance to Guantánamo Bay, in the extreme Southeast of the coast of Cuba, the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo (GITMO) covers an area of 71 square miles of which only 35 square miles are solid land. GITMO is the only North American base outside the United States that is located in what could be considered officially as enemy territory. The terrain of the base is semi-arid, with a lot of dust, a dry climate with very little annual rain and temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The military people there refer to the fence that separates the base from Cuban territory as the “Cactus Curtain.” The only potable water is produced by a desalinization plant located on the base. In September 1981, in view of the influx of Haitian refugees that existed at that time, the administration of President Ronald Reagan established a program to intercept refugees on the high seas to prevent them from reaching North American shores. This broke the country’s long history of opening its doors to the persecuted and those in need. The majority of those who were intercepted were returned to Haiti against their will while the rest were taken to GITMO. Thus, the base was given a new function that would eventually be called a “safe heaven.” |
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This policy of interception on the high seas was also maintained by President George H.W. Bush. Between October 1991 and June 1992, a total of 36,594 Haitian refugees were intercepted; most were forced to return and the rest taken to Guantánamo. In 1994 the administration of President Clinton continued the same policy but modified it in part by suspending the return of the Haitians moving all of those intercepted to Guantánamo. In May of 1994 Department of Defense Joint Taskforce 160 (JTF-160) started Operation Sea Signal charged with the responsibility to “feed, house, clothe and care for” the Haitians in the base, referring to them as migrants and not as refugees. Between 1994 and 1995 a total of 21,638 Haitians were in the camps at Guantánamo. At the time the Cubans arrived the Haitian camps were situated on the runways in the area of the old McCalla airport on the East side of Guantánamo Bay. Each one of the camps was completely surrounded by several rolls of barbed wire with military guards covering the perimeter. The refugees lived in canvas military tents with the surface of the terrain as a floor and with military cots for sleeping. Very few of the camps had access to running water which limited personal hygiene severely. Portable latrines were used. Food consisted principally of meals ready to eat ( MREs) that were used by the army and the Red Cross in cases of disaster. The possibilities for entertainment and education for children were practically nonexistent. These limited living conditions, augmented by the frustration that the refugees felt because of their uncertain future, led to strong protests and even to revolts. This situation got worse with the arrival, in less than two months, of more than 30,000 Cuban refugees who were also obliged to live in these conditions. The existing infrastructure at the time of the arrival of the Haitians and Cubans was designed for 5,000 people. The increase to around 50,000 people in a few months presented the Department of Defense with an extraordinary logistical and operational challenge. In order to accommodate the Cubans, the Joint Task Force-160 established more than 25 camps in other parts of the base, most in the zone near the coast and in some cases in areas close to the housing for the families of the military who are permanently assigned to the base. The Department of Defense was obliged to relocate the family members of the military to the U.S. for security reasons which created a strong feeling of uneasiness and resentment among these troops that would have serious consequences for the refugees. In most cases the Cuban camps were established in very dry areas on dusty and/or rocky ground and also surrounded by barbed wire fences and the same conditions as the Haitians as far as food and living conditions. In October 1994, the State Department announced the steps they had taken and would take to improve the quality of life of the Cubans and Haitians that existed in the “safe haven.” Until then conditions had been alleviated only by the donations of non-governmental organizations mostly religious organizations and from the Cuban community in the U.S. The following measures were announced by the State Department and describe the situation existing at that time. Increase access to running water in all the Haitian camps and in 75% of the Cuban camps; construct wood floors for all the tents. Increase the cleaning cycle for the portable latrines, one for every thirty refugees, from once every two days to every day. Increase the distribution of milk and hot meals that have finally begun to be prepared and distributed. Develop the preventive medical care that has been coming along primitively; open facilities for pregnant women and newborn babies; begin regular mail service (until now the only possibilities to communicate were through cards from the Red Cross); provide public telephones in the camps so that refugees can make calls to their relatives and reverse the charges; facilitate access to the outside world by means of radios and newspapers; as well as permit the refugees to publish their own papers and construct recreational facilities. By the middle of November 1994, the majority of the Haitian refugees had returned to Haiti following the North American invasion and the return of President Aristide. Only the announcement that those rafters who were elderly, sick, and children and their families would leave for the U.S., and the implementation of these exits, could bring a little hope for those who remained. This hope was confirmed when Attorney General Janet Reno announced, onMay 2, 1995that all the Cuban refugees in the base, with the exception of people with criminal records, would be able to go to the U.S. By the end of January 1996 the last Cuban refugee had left the “safe haven” closing a grey chapter in the history of immigration to this country. The final phase was distinct from the initial stage, the camps were improved, the tents were converted into small cabins, each camp had its own kitchen, dispensary, meeting room and recreation area, showers and bathrooms with running water continuously available, classes for the adults and, most important, the barbed wire was taken down permitting free movement. Siro del Castillo is the Caribbean Commissioner for the Latin American Commission for the Rights and Freedoms of the Workers and their Peoples (CLADEHLT). At the request of the Clinton Administration he visited the Guantánamo Navy Base several times in October, November and December of 1994, and as part of the Guantánamo Refugee Assistance and Services Program (GRASP) he went back again during the summer of 1995. The University of Miami Digital Library Program, 2004. We welcome your comments. |
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