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Guantánamo: Resisting an illegal occupation for 120 years

guantanamoThe Guantánamo Naval Base is evidence of U.S. geopolitical and economic interests, riding roughshod over Cuba’s sovereignty and harming the Cuban people.

This was noted by historian José Sánchez Guerra, during the “Theoretical Encounter: 120 Years of the Yankee Military Presence in Guantánamo,” held at the University of Medical Sciences of this territory; as part of which professors, social science researchers and university students discussed the damages caused as a result of the United States’ oldest overseas military base.

Sánchez added that Guantánamo residents have responded with a spirit of resistance accumulated over 120 years, which forms part of their identity.

The event saw the book launch of Guantánamo and American Empire: The Humanities Respond by its author, U.S. writer and professor Don. E. Walicek, who currently lives in Puerto Rico, and the editor Jessica Adams.

The text contains historiographical elements, interviews and academic essays that, from a Caribbean humanistic and cultural perspective, condemn the arbitrary methods of detention and torture employed at the prison located in the illegal military base.

Don. E. Walicek explained that the book is the result of four years of research, and also attempts to show the world that the province of Guantánamo is much more than just the naval base. At the same time, it highlights the international condemnation of the illegal occupation, as well as the just demand of the Cuban people for its return to the island.

Researcher Mario Montero Campello, meanwhile, referred to the impact of the military base on the surrounding environment. The United States occupies the deepest areas of the Bay of Caimanera, affecting also the flora and fauna of the area, as a result of continuous constructive extensions, and the systematic dumping of waste, which pollutes the surrounding area.

(Granma)

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