Guantanamo Guide

Cuba's easternmost province is one of the least visited yet most interesting of all the country's municipalities. The name Guantanamo is most widely known because of the infamous US naval base at Guantanamo Bay a few kilometres north of the city of Guantanamo. Though strategically and politically important, the US base occupies a relatively small isolated area that visitors to Guantanamo province are not likely to stumble on, so the real Cuban charm of the province can in fact be enjoyed as if it didn't exist.

However in case you didn't know already, the US military have been holding at Guantanamo Bay more than 500 "terrorists" detained since the 2001 "U.S. war on terror". It is the authors view that a "war on the REASONS for violent action" maybe more appropriate, and that one persons terrorist is another persons freedom fighter; and that nobody should be imprisoned without charge and a fair trial. Cubans regard the US base as an illegal occupation of their land, not least because the treaty and lease of 1903 was imposed by force, it is obsolete by the norms and principles of the UN Friendly Relations Resolution of 1970, the terms of the lease have been broken, and the treaty breaks the Vienna Convention articles 56 and 62.

The province is, with the possible exception of the eastern peninsular of Pinar del Rio province, the wildest, most uncharted piece of territory in the land.

The main tourist destination of Guantanamo province is the magical little town of Baracoa, don't miss the oportunity to come there in the week of 1 April, when heady street parties every night commemorate the disembarkation of General Antonio Maceo at nearby Playa Duaba in 1895, marking the beginning of the War of Independence.

Guantánamo's architecture and culture is unlike the rest of Cuba. The providence is only 80km away from Haiti its closest point, across the Windward Passage and close enough to see lights on Haiti on a clear night. Guantánamo also has a high number of immigrants from Jamaica, meaning that many buildings are comparable to those of the French Quarter of New Orleans in the U.S. state of Louisiana.

The Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa mountains dominate the province, dividing both climate and landscape. The northern coast, battered by prevailing winds, is the wettest part of the country, while the south, sheltered and dry, is the hottest. The north is characterized by rainforests, while the south is arid and has much cacti.

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