As of late January, the Guantánomo base has received 158 prisoners who were flown
from detention camps in Afghanistan, and another 275 are expected to arrive soon.
Although there has been scrutiny from international and U.S. human rights groups on
the treatment of the prisoners, the government of Fidel Castro has publicly signaled
its acceptance of the decision by the Bush administration to imprison hundreds of
suspected Al Qaeda members at the American base on Cuba's eastern tip. The naval
station at Guantánamo Bay is one of the many points of contention in the two
countries' difficult relationship. The United States leases the base under a 1903
agreement that was renewed as a perpetual lease in 1934, nearly three decades before Castro seized power.
News Stories:
"Nuestra discrepancia no es en la lucha contra el terrorismo, sino en los métodos de
luchar contra el terrorismo"
Granma Internacional, January 22, 2002
"In Cuba, Muted Acceptance Greets Presence of Prisoners,"
The New York Times, January 14, 2002