Stationed in Guantanamo Bay
Cuba ‘strongly’ rejects US nuclear submarine
7/12/2023 5:32 am
The US is stationing a nuclear submarine in Guantanamo Bay off the coast of Cuba. Havana’s reaction is clear: Cuba protests “resolutely” against it. The relationship with Russia, which has recently become closer again, is probably behind the negative attitude.
Havana has protested the presence of a US nuclear submarine in Guantanamo Bay on Cuba’s east coast. In a statement written in English, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said it “strongly opposed” the July 5 arrival of a nuclear-powered submarine in Guantanamo Bay. Accordingly, the submarine remained in the US naval base there until July 8.
The incident was a “provocative escalation by the United States, whose political or strategic motives are unknown,” it said. The ministry warned of the “danger of the presence” of nuclear submarines by US forces in the nearby Caribbean.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, citing the US Department of Defense, said “we continue to fly, drive or otherwise move our military assets where appropriate under international law.” The US naval base at Guantanamo Bay is also home to the Guantanamo detention center set up by the US after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
Cuba’s protest comes against the background of closer relations between Cuba and Russia. Bilateral projects and senior official visits have increased somewhat.
During the Cold War, the then Soviet Union maintained listening stations in Cuba to spy on the United States. When the Soviet Union stationed nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962, it led to one of the most dangerous crises of the Cold War. Moscow finally withdrew the medium-range missiles.