Cuba Alarmed by ‘Provocative’ Arrival of US Nuclear Submarine at Guantanamo BayPublished 13 hours in the past

Cuban on Tuesday protested towards the presence of a US nuclear-powered submarine final week on the American naval base in Guantanamo Bay on the island’s east coast. In an announcement issued in English, the overseas ministry stated it “strongly rejects the arrival of a nuclear-powered submarine within the Guantanamo Bay on July 5, 2023, that stayed till July 8 on the US navy base situated there.”

The incident was a “provocative escalation of the US, whose political or strategic motives aren’t recognized,” it added. The ministry warned of the “hazard of the presence and circulation of nuclear submarines of the US armed forces within the close by Caribbean area.”

In Washington, the State Division stated it doesn’t focus on the motion of US navy belongings. However spokesman Matthew Miller stated the US place is that “we’ll proceed to fly and sail and in any other case transfer navy belongings wherever it’s acceptable to take action underneath worldwide regulation.”

Cuba’s criticism follows a tightening of relations between Cuba and Russia, with an uptick in bilateral initiatives and visits by senior officers at the same time as Moscow is engaged in a battle on Ukraine.

Final month, Cuba and Russia — each underneath US sanctions — introduced they’d pursue nearer “technical-military” cooperation. Moscow and Havana have been on the middle of a world nuclear weapons scare in 1962, when the Soviet Union stationed missiles on the island, sparking threats of an assault by the US.

The weapons have been withdrawn and a navy conflict was averted, however Cuba has been underneath a US blockade ever since. Cuba has additionally raised eyebrows over latest interactions with China.

The Wall Road Journal has reported that Havana was negotiating with Beijing to ascertain a joint navy coaching facility on the island, and the White Home stated China has been working an intelligence unit in Cuba for years — which Havana has denied. Cuba has repeatedly demanded the return of a 117-square-kilometer (45-square-mile) territory in US fingers since 1898 and residential to the Guantanamo base.

Since 2002, it has been utilized by the US to deal with “enemy combatants” captured within the so-called battle on terror following the September 11, 2001 assaults. Final month, UN Particular Rapporteur on Human Rights Fionnuala Ni Aolain stated the remedy of the remaining 30 detainees at Guantanamo was “merciless, inhuman and degrading.”

(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – AFP)