✅ Cuba califica de «escalada provocadora» de EE.UU. la presencia de un submarino nuclear en la bahía de Guantánamo.

Cuba denounced the presence last week of a nuclear-powered submarine at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, an unusual event that it described as a «provocative escalation» in the midst of tensions with Washington and a supposed base of Chinese espionage in the country.

The United States has had a military base in Guantanamo since 1903, in the eastern end of the island, which occupies 117 square kilometers and remains there after the military occupation of the country in 1898 following its intervention in the Cuban war of independence against Spanish colonialism.

«The presence of a nuclear submarine there at this time raises questions about the military reason for the event in this peaceful region of the world, what target it is directed against, and what strategic purpose it pursues,» said the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.

The ministry categorically rejected the entry into Guantanamo Bay on July 5th and said that the submarine remained until July 8th, «which constitutes a provocative escalation by the United States.»

The ministry did not specify whether the submarine had weapons or not. Havana said that the base is a military enclave that has long lost strategic or military importance for Washington, and «its presence only responds to the political objective of trying to violate Cuba’s sovereign rights.»

The White House and the US Department of State did not respond immediately to requests for comments, nor did they confirm the presence of the submarine in Guantanamo Bay.

Cuba’s complaint comes weeks after the Wall Street Journal reported that China is using Cuba as an electronic listening station, an information that Havana has rejected as «false and unfounded.»

Washington has not provided evidence of the existence of a Chinese espionage base in Cuba or of Beijing’s military presence on the island.

«It is difficult to know what the motivation was,» said William LeoGrande, a professor at American University in Washington, pointing out possible technical issues regarding the submarine’s presence or it being a response to concerns about China.

«Overall, this is an incident that is really a symptom of the fact that Cuba once again finds itself caught between superpowers in what appears to be the emergence of a new cold war,» he added in a dialogue with Reuters.

Havana has warned of the danger posed by the circulation of nuclear submarines of the US armed forces in the Caribbean and added that a history of US military bases in the region threatens the sovereignty of peoples.

The military base at Guantanamo Bay has served «as a center for detention, torture, and systematic violation of the human rights of dozens of citizens from various countries,» according to the text.

Since January 11, 2002, the first prisoners from Afghanistan arrived at the base in Guantanamo, where they remain imprisoned to this day, accused mostly of charges related to international terrorism.

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