Editing Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (section)

===Cold War and beyond===
[[File:U.S-Cuban Border. Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base. - panoramio.jpg|thumb|222x222px|United States base–Cuban border, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]]
From 1953 to 1959, thousands of Cubans commuted daily from outside the base to jobs within it. In mid-1958, vehicular traffic was stopped; workers were required to walk through the base's several gates. Public Works Center buses were pressed into service almost overnight to carry the tides of workers to and from the gate. 

The "Cactus Curtain" is a term describing the line separating the naval base from Cuban-controlled territory,<ref name=":0" /> an allusion to Europe's [[Iron Curtain]],<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940656,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229213928/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940656,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 December 2008 |title=Yankees Besieged |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=16 March 1962}}</ref> the [[Bamboo Curtain]] in East Asia, and the similar [[Bering Strait#"Ice Curtain" border|Ice Curtain]] in the [[Bering Strait]]. After the [[Cuban Revolution]], some Cubans sought refuge on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. In late 1961, Cuban troops planted an {{convert|8|mi|km|adj=on}} long, {{convert|10|ft|m|adj=on}} wide<ref name=":1" /> barrier of ''[[Opuntia]]'' (prickly pear) cactus along the northeastern section of the {{convert|17|mi|adj=on}} fence surrounding the base in order to prevent checkpoint evasion when moving between the base and Cuba proper<!-- Cubans were allowed to go between Cuba and the base for work, too. Due to suspicion from both sides, workers had to go through a checkpoint on either end, one Cuban and one U.S., in order to do so, and the ability to evade this would have undermined the process. The cacti were not just for refugees but all Cubans working on the base and living in Cuba proper, so checkpoint evasion is a better term because it encompasses both workers and refugees. -->.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.american.edu/TED/guantan.htm |title=Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Ecological Crises |work=Trade and Environment Database |publisher=[[American University]] |access-date=19 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327053019/http://www.american.edu/TED/guantan.htm |archive-date=27 March 2009 }}</ref>

The curtain forms part of a "[[no man's land]]" that encircles the base.<ref name=":1" /> This area is complete with perimeter patrols, outposts featuring sandbags, and watchtowers,<ref name=":0" /> and has been complemented with barbed wire fences, minefields, and cacti.<ref name=":1" /> Apart from the cacti, both U.S. and Cuban troops erected, maintained, and otherwise manned these defenses, primarily to prevent checkpoint evasion and possible invasion from the other side.<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Marines stack mines for disposal.jpg|thumb|U.S. Marines stack up landmines for [[Demining#Removal methods|disposal]] in July 1997.]]
U.S. and Cuban troops placed some 55,000 [[Anti-personnel mine|anti-personnel]] and [[Anti-tank mine|anti-tank]] [[land mine]]s across the "no man's land" around the perimeter of the naval base,<ref name=":1" /> creating the second-largest minefield in the world, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere.<ref name=":0" /> Initially, the mines were laid down by US troops, who also laid down signs stating that the landmines were "precautions" and should not be viewed as "aggressive".<ref name=":1" /> In response, Cuban troops also laid down their own mines, with both sides completing their minefields in 1961.<ref name=":1" /> Between 1961 and 1965, landmine explosions resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people, including as the result of engineering accidents and late-night partygoers.<ref name=":1" /> On 16 May 1996, U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]] ordered the [[demining]] of the American field. They have since been replaced with [[Motion detector|motion]] and sound sensors to detect intruders on the base. The Cuban government has not removed its corresponding minefield outside the perimeter.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuba/guantanamo-mines.htmv |first=Carol |last=Rosenberg |title=Guantanamo base free of land mines |date=29 June 1999 |work=[[Miami Herald]] |access-date=14 February 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1731704.stm |title=Destination Guantanamo Bay |work=BBC News |access-date=15 March 2006 | date=28 December 2001}}</ref>

During the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in 1962, the families of military personnel were evacuated from the base. Notified of the evacuation on 22 October, evacuees were told to pack one suitcase per family member, to bring evacuation and immunization cards, to tie pets in the yard, to leave the keys to the house on the dining table, and to wait in front of the house for buses.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Guantanamo Bay Evacuation Order, Oct. 22, 1962 |last=Wiltrout |first=Kate |url=https://www.pilotonline.com/military/article_9d48032a-a1b9-5ec7-8145-288c54e8f5a2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621171905/https://www.pilotonline.com/military/article_9d48032a-a1b9-5ec7-8145-288c54e8f5a2.html |archive-date=21 June 2021 |date=5 November 2012 |newspaper=The Virginian-Pilot}}</ref> Dependents traveled to the airfield for flights to the United States, or to ports for passage aboard evacuation ships. After the crisis was resolved, family members were allowed to return to the base in December 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the American Red Cross Station on NSGB |url=https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=104765 |archive-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319211902/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=104765 |publisher=United States Navy |access-date=26 September 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From 1939, the base's water was supplied by pipelines that drew water from the [[Yateras]] River about {{convert|4.5|mi|km|0}} northeast of the base. The U.S. government paid a fee for this; in 1964, it was about $14,000 a month for about {{convert|2.5|e6U.S.gal|m3|sigfig=1|abbr=unit}} per day. In 1964, the Cuban government stopped the flow. The base had about {{convert|14|e6U.S.gal|m3|sigfig=1|abbr=unit}} of water in storage, and strict water conservation was put into effect immediately. The U.S. first imported water from [[Jamaica]] by barge, then relocated a [[desalination]] plant from San Diego ([[Point Loma, San Diego|Point Loma]]). When the Cuban government accused the United States of "stealing water", base commander [[John D. Bulkeley]] ordered that the pipelines be cut and a section removed. A {{convert|38|in|cm|abbr=on|sp=us|adj=on}} length of the {{convert|14|in|cm|abbr=on}} diameter pipe and a {{convert|20|in|cm|abbr=on}} length of the {{convert|10|in|cm|abbr=on}} diameter pipe were lifted from the ground and the openings sealed.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the base had problems with alcohol and racial tension.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Benz|first=Stephen|date=2018|title=Overlooking Guantánamo|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711692|journal=New England Review|language=en|volume=39|issue=4|pages=114–128|doi=10.1353/ner.2018.0116|s2cid=201729092|issn=2161-9131|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Harassment and strip searches also became a regular occurrence for Cuban workers on the base.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Lipman|first=Jana K.|url=https://california.degruyter.com/view/title/556715|title=Guantanamo: A Working-Class History between Empire and Revolution|date=2008-12-02|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-94237-0|editor-last=Lewis|editor-first=Earl|series=American Crossroads|volume=25|pages=162–171|doi=10.1525/9780520942370-007|s2cid=226759322|editor-last2=Lipsitz|editor-first2=George|editor-last3=Pascoe|editor-first3=Peggy|editor-last4=Sánchez|editor-first4=George|editor-last5=Takagi|editor-first5=Dana}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Several old guns from the [[USS Monongahela (1862)|USS ''Monongahela'' (1862)]] have been salvaged and placed around the base. The old warship served as a [[storeship]] at Guantanamo until destroyed by fire on 17 March 1908. A {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on}} gun was salvaged from its wreck and put on display at the Naval Station. Since the gun was deformed by the heat from the fire, it was nicknamed "Old Droopy". A similar gun, possibly also salvaged from the ''Monongahela'', is on display near the Bay View Club on the Naval Station.

By 2006, only two elderly Cubans, Luis Delarosa and Harry Henry, still crossed the base's North East Gate daily to work on the base, because the Cuban government prohibited new recruitment since 1959. They both retired at the end of 2012.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Leboy|first1=Suzette|last2=Fox|first2=Ben|title=Era Ends: Base's last two Cuban commuters retire|website=[[Miami Herald]]|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1945464.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015231909/https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article1945464.html|url-status=live |access-date=15 December 2012|archive-date=15 October 2015}}</ref> At the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] in 2013, Cuba's Foreign Minister demanded the U.S. return the base.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/world-news/force-feeding-hunger-strikers-breaches-law/story-fndir2ev-1226633487092 Australian News, May 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724090722/http://www.news.com.au/world-news/force-feeding-hunger-strikers-breaches-law/story-fndir2ev-1226633487092 |date=24 July 2013 }}, Comments by Cuba to the UN Human Rights Council</ref><ref>[http://www.granma.cu/ingles/international-i/26enero-Guantanamo%20is.html Granma, 26 January 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103171213/http://www.granma.cu/ingles/international-i/26enero-Guantanamo%20is.html |date=3 November 2013 }}, comments on an article in the ''New York Times'' on the continued occupation of Cuba</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Hansen|first=Jonathan M.|date=2012-01-11|title=Opinion {{!}} Give Guantánamo Back to Cuba|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/opinion/give-guantanamo-back-to-cuba.html|access-date=2021-03-17|issn=0362-4331|via=Granma}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131205175524/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA373599 Guantanamo, Yankee naval base of crimes and provocations], 1970, (Cuban) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, translated 1977 by U.S. Joint Publications Research Service (PDF)</ref><ref>Alfred de Zayas, "The Status of Guantanamo Bay and the Status of the Detainees" in ''University of British Columbia Law Review'', vol. 37, July 2004, pp. 277–342;, A de Zayas Guantanamo Naval Base in ''Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law'', Oxford University Press 2012</ref>