Havana hopes for Moscow's help in resolving Guantanamo problem
MOSCOW. May 10 (Interfax) - Cuba hopes for Russia's assistance in resolving the 'Guantanamo issue'.
"Tasks are still facing the Cuban people, steps still have to be taken - the struggle for the lifting of the blockade, the struggle to return the Guantanamo territory illegally taken [by the United States] for a military base. And we hope that we will be able to count on your solidarity in tackling these tasks," a member of a delegation of Cuba's anti-terrorist heroes, Gerardo Hernandez, said at a meeting with Russian State Duma First Deputy Speaker Ivan Melnikov (the Communist Party of Russia) in Moscow on Tuesday.
Melnikov, for his part, said, addressing the delegation members, that "your activity in U.S. territory caused absolutely no damage to U.S. national interests."
"You were real anti-terrorist fighters. You fought against those people and prevented terrorist acts that were directed against your homeland, against the Republic of Cuba, and your work was a success," the Russian MP said.
Consequently, "we have never recognized and do not recognize today those simply inhuman verdicts that you received for your work," he said.
The delegation includes the so-called 'five heroes' - employees of Cuban special services, who were engaged in intelligence activity on U.S. territory and were subsequently sentenced by U.S. courts to lengthy prison terms for espionage. Two of them returned to Cuba after serving their sentences in the U.S. The others were released in December 2014 amid a warming-up in relations between the United States and Cuba.
The Guantanamo base has been leased from Cuba under a contract since 1903. A prison was opened there in 2002. Its inmates were people whom the U.S. accused of possible connections with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The prison houses a total of 700 or so inmates.
After the prison was opened, the Cuban government unsuccessfully tried to terminate the lease contract and secure the base's evacuation, citing violation of the lease terms.
Barack Obama has repeatedly promised to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay since he became U.S. president, but has encountered resistance from congressmen. He has said that he intends to transfer the inmates to their home countries or to U.S. civilian prisons.