Beneath the tropical sunshine and beside dazzling blue seas, Daniel Lopez lived his life in a dark world of shadows.
An intelligence officer with the Cuban military at Guantánamo Bay, his job was to watch those who were doing the watching – and report back on any of his fellow Cuban soldiers who held anti-Castro views. For over a decade he was tasked with ensuring that his colleagues were committed to the revolution and convinced of their cause, as they patrolled the 17 miles of razor wire and mines that separates Cuban territory from American.
But now, Mr Lopez – not his real name – has had a change of heart.
“We’re not going to get Guantánamo back any time soon,” he said. “Forget it. Even Raúl Castro accepts that, in his heart of hearts. The Americans won’t give in.”
The thorny issue of Guantánamo Bay is, once again, back on the table, as America and Cuba sits down for the first time in over half a century to discuss ways of restoring their relationship.
On April 10 President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart will meet in Panama at the Summit of the Americas, with the expectation that the two men could, for the first time ever, hold a working meeting. Discussions that began on December 17 are aimed at restoring diplomatic relations, severed since 1961. And America’s continued control of Guantánamo Bay, the small inlet at the far eastern tip of Cuba, is a raw wound for the Cuban government.
“The re-establishment of diplomatic relations is the start of a process of normalising bilateral relations,” said Raúl Castro in January. “But this will not be possible while the blockade still exists, while they don’t give back the territory illegally occupied by the Guantánamo naval base.”
It may be a vain request. One diplomatic source told The Telegraph that the issue of Guantánamo was the first thing raised following the December 17 rapprochement – and the first thing dismissed by the Americans.
It remains, however, an embarrassment for Mr Obama. When asked last month what advice he would give himself on entering the White House, he said: “I think I would have closed Guantánamo on the first day.”
Read more:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/cuba/11509750/Guantanamo-residents-How-can-Cuba-talk-to-the-US-while-they-occupy-our-land.html
