THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409150441
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Marc Tibbs
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Before any more Norfolk troops are put in harm's way, might it be wise for the United States to consider pulling out of Cuba?
The question occurred to me during a conversation recently with a sailor still stationed at the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay.
Military men and women there in recent days have been confined to their quarters while off duty.
Most have had escorts to and from their duty stations since about 2,500 of the Cuban refugees stormed out of makeshift refugee camps last week and made their way into the downtown area of the base.
``We can't go anywhere, can't do anything,'' said one enlistee. ``Everything is closed. It's like we're the refugees and they're running the base.''
The enlistee, who didn't want to be identified for fear of government reprisal, said U.S. troops are living a life under siege at the United States' oldest overseas military base.
``There are three times more of them than there are of us,'' the enlistee said of the Cubans. ``It's pretty frustrating. Everybody is scared, not only of the refugees, but of the JTS,'' or Joint Task Force.
The task force, with members from all branches of military service, is charged with implementating Clinton administration policies on Cuba.
``The Joint Task Force people are kind of letting them (Cubans) run around to blow off steam,'' the enlistee said.
The sailor said that, over the weekend, auxiliary forces were stationed two to three abreast around the base's golf course, and were decked in flak jackets, steel helmets and other riot gear to contain the protesting Cubans roaming the links.
It makes for a grim image. Which is perhaps why the United States should consider abandoning the base.
Since 1903, the United States has maintained Guantanamo through a lease agreement that calls for a $2,000 annual payment to the Cuban government. The pact can be canceled only by mutual agreement or by a voluntary U.S. withdrawal.
When Fidel Castro came to power, he accused the United States of territorial interference, but the United States refused to vacate. He has refused to cash the checks for lease payments.
In years past, having a naval station there probably was necessary to keep in check a communist regime so close to our shores. But since the fall of the Soviet Union, Castro no longer has superpower financing, and economic anemia has folded him into a paper tiger.
Now, more than 25,000 Cubans are held at Guantanamo - refugees on their own soil.
A U.S.-negotiated agreement with Castro has slowed the number of Cubans fleeing the island, but thousands are still in limbo at Gitmo.
Should the United States pull out and leave for the natives the 45 square miles of land and water, including the golf course, the riding stables, the archery range, the parks and pools?
It's a land deal that just may have gone on for too long.
Witness the sailor's reaction:
``From the very beginning, the president said they are not going to be allowed asylum in the United States. Why not take them out to the northeast gate and send them back to Cuba?''
Send them back to Cuba? Aren't they already there? by CNB