29 January 2013: The U.S. State Department dismantled the special envoy charged with closing Guantánamo despite President Obama’s campaign promise to close the site. 29 January 1993: Almost immediately after the inauguration of President Bill Clinton Haitian refugees began protesting their detention at Guantánamo by refusing food.          

January 25, 2013: A U.S. appeals court overturned the war crimes conviction of Ali Hamza al Bahlul, a Yemeni national serving a life sentence at the detention facility at Guantánamo. Bahlul worked as a publicist for al Qaeda, posting training and recruiting videos on the internet for the organization. The dismissal of the charge is likely to…

This week, in 1927, writer K. C. McIntosh published an article on Guantánamo for the American Mercury, in which he described a scene of U.S. sailors drinking merrily at a tavern in nearby Caimanera, Cuba. The bartenders, soaked with perspiration and the splash of upset glasses, pass out the last round. Lean, nondescript dogs, their eyes glazed with…

“Guantánamo” has become an international symbol of the United States’ War on Terror and a lightning rod for debates about torture, detention, national security, and human rights. But the US naval station at Guantánamo Bay – also known by its military acronym “GTMO” or its nickname, “Gitmo” – was part of American politics and policy…