GUANTANAMO BAY
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Context:
- US is laying the groundwork to release prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center and at least move closer to being able to shut it down.
Guantánamo Bay:
- Guantánamo Bay is a bay in Guantánamo Province at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is an inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
- The strategic importance of the bay is that it is close to the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and Panama.
- This strategic importance was recognized during the Spanish-American War, in 1898, when U.S. marines landed there.
- Since the 1959 revolution, the Cuban government has protested the U.S. presence and periodically has threatened to seize the base.
- Often called “Gitmo” by naval personnel assigned there, it is used primarily as a U.S. fleet training base in the Caribbean Sea.