Word: guantanamo
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Since the semester began, I've been taking a kind of informal poll. First I ask people if they've ever heard of Guantanamo Bay. If they say yes, I ask them where it is. If they know it's in Cuba, I ask them who controls it. And so far I've had only two or three correct answers to this last question...
...fact, the large harbor and surrounding land known as Guantanamo Bay has been a U.S. possession since 1899. One of the best harbors in the Caribbean came under the Stars and Stripes after the Spanish-American War. As far as I've been able to find out, the treaty concerning the port is bilateral in only the most abstract sense. One version I've heard is that it's a treaty "in perpetuity," or until both sides shall agree to a fundamental change. Castro says he wants the Navy to leave, and it's not going. The United States...
...does it? Scratch a little deeper and you'll see, as I did, the odd nature of these kinds of places. Guantanamo, like Hong Kong or West Berlin, serves many purposes for many people. And few people, Castro included, look like they're in any big hurry...
...what the land surrounds makes Guantanamo golden. The harbor is deep and wide, suitable for a myriad of ocean-going vessels. This was evident long before the war with the Spanish, and the entire area was one of the first concessions demanded by Washington during the peace negotiations. The Navy's held it ever since...
...succeeding decades the harbor was used as a base for U.S. activities in and around the Caribbean, and for training and recreation. Cuban workers performed the thousands of tasks needed to support a naval base, and American sailors spent many a wild night in Guantanamo City. Next to Havana itself this was probably the most economically dynamic area of Cuba, especially during wartime. Here, and in Subic Bay and Manila in the Philippines, the United States experienced its first and only taste of direct imperialism...