US naval base in Guantánamo, Cuba, violates Cuban sovereignty

Havana, March 29 (RHC) Russia denounced this Wednesday the existence of the US naval base in the Cuban province of Guantánamo, describing its foundation as a direct theft of the sovereignty of the Cuban nation.

The statement, published by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Twitter, was made by the secretary of the Security Council of that country, Nikolai Pátrushev, in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta media.

The senior official pointed out that the military site, which occupies 117.6 square kilometers of Cuba's national territory, is just one of many examples of regular attacks against the independence of Latin American countries.

Patrushev also maintained in the interview that Washington has become a champion of the violation of the sovereignty of States, in the number of wars and conflicts unleashed and in the brutal and illegal hunting of citizens of other countries.

The Guantánamo naval base, the first of its kind to be installed by the United States government outside its borders, began its operations in December 1903 and became, in the first half of the 20th century, the training and preparation stage for the North American fleet.

It was the result of an Agreement for Coal and Naval Stations, signed on February 23, 1903 between the governments of the United States and Cuba, in circumstances in which the latter had practically no independence, due to the imposition of the Platt Amendment (1901).

After the triumph of the Revolution (1959) the enclave became a platform for permanent aggression against Cuba, through support for counterrevolutionary organizations and networks of the Central Intelligence Agency, which received all the necessary material support from there.

According to researchers, 8,288 violations have been committed at that US naval base: almost 6,000 corresponding to airspace and more than 1,000 to maritime navigation.

Starting in 2002, a detention center for prisoners accused of terrorism was established, which in 2003 already housed 700 inmates, most of whom were detained in Afghanistan during the US invasion.

United Nations human rights experts say that this place has been the scene of relentless and continuous violations of the fundamental guarantees of the detainees. (Source: ACN)