Present day Guantánamo Bay is a space that exists in obscurity, both in terms of geography and public imagination. Locating it on a map might involve a simple rendering of the Caribbean islands or, specifically, the southeastern region of Cuba; but to identify the space as a land once colonized by Spain where native Cubans…

After reading all of the articles provided at the Guantánamo Public Memory Project website, seeing all the images and hearing all of the testimonies, I feel so entrenched in the site and its situation that I want to take the next personnel flight back stateside. Just like many others who visit, part of me remains…

  The story from our short study of Guantánamo Bay’s history that I found the most compelling is Janet Miller’s narrative in Memories of Guantánamo Bay, 1960-1962. What I find so striking is how incongruent her experience at the base is with my prior understanding of Guantánamo. How can a place that has witnessed so…

  “If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today – and we do – does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?”   “America is a friend to the people of Iraq. Our demands are directed only at…

  Year after year, the U.S. State Department issues an annual report that criticizes the Cuban government for detaining some of its citizens in prison indefinitely, without charging them with crimes or bringing them to trial. But let’s be fair. This criticism applies only to a specific part of Cuba – the 99.9% of the…

  In the early 1990s, with the arrival of thousands of Haitian immigrants, Guantánamo Bay served as one of the first sites of mass HIV testing for immigrants. Over 260 individuals tested positive and were segregated in Camp Bulkeley, a tent camp surrounded by barbed wire. Haitians reported limited mobility, poor sanitation, and insufficient and…

  While learning the history of the Guantánamo Naval base (GTMO), time and time again I’ve been struck by a sense of collective confusion and misinformation that has reappeared in the stories of people stationed at the base, as well as detainees and non-American workers who have lived there. The base has often been used…

2012: This week, the Pentagon set Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s long awaited trial in motion. He and four other Guantánamo Bay detainees, accused of orchestrating the September 11, 2001 attacks, will be tried at a military tribunal instead of a civilian court. They face the death penalty if convicted. These five men are charged with organizing…

“I don’t know if you should move to Arizona,” my grandpa warned me. “It’s too close to the border.” Drug wars. Gangs. I came to Arizona State anyway, starting my PhD in the fall of 2010. Honestly, I felt as safe in Tempe as my small hometown in northern Utah – until the night I…

    The role of Cuban workers on the Guantánamo Bay naval base has fluctuated over time. Those who work on the base, but return to homes in Cuba are referred to as “commuters.” In the 1950s, according to historian Jonathan Hansen, there were as many as 3,000 commuters. However, as the Cold War progressed…