Cuba Rejects Entry of US Nuclear Submarine in Guantanamo

On Tuesday, the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry (MINREX) rejected the entry of a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine into the Guantanamo naval base from July 5 to 8.

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"It's a provocative escalation of U.S. which makes it imperative to question what strategic purpose it pursues in our region, which was declared a Zone of Peace," Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez tweeted.

For 121 years, the United States has occupied a territory of 117 square kilometers against the will of the Cuban people and as a colonial remnant of the illegitimate military occupation that began in 1898, the MINREX recalled, mentioning that the Guantanamo base lacks strategic importance for the United States but "its permanence only responds to the political objective of trying to violate the sovereign rights of Cuba."

The Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry reiterates the complaint that the Guantanamo base has become "a center for the detention, torture and systematic violation of the human rights of dozens of citizens from various countries."

"The presence of a nuclear submarine there at this moment makes it imperative to wonder what is the military reason behind this action in this peaceful region of the world; what target is it aiming at and what is the strategic purpose it pursues."

Cuban diplomats thus recalled that 33 nations adhered to the Declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, which was signed in Havana in January 2014.

“It is also important to take into account the fact that, as a threat to the sovereignty and the interests of Latin American and Caribbean peoples, the United States has established more than 70 military bases in the region with different times of permanence, plus other operational forms of military presence. Recently, its high military commands have publicly announced their intention to use their war capabilities to realize the U.S. ambitions over the natural resources of Latin America and the Caribbean."