Diaz-Canel slams US plan to imprison immigrants in Guantanamo

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
Today 02:18

US President Trump to detain immigrants in occupied Cuban territory has been denounced by the country's president.

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A United States flag is seen inside Camp Justice, where US military commissions are held in the Naval Base, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on August 29, 2021. (AP)

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned the United States government for committing an "act of brutality" on Wednesday.

Diaz-Canel pointed to a recent decision taken by US President Donald Trump's administration aimed at preparing a detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, where 30,000 immigrants are meant to be held.

Located near the southeastern tip of the Cuban island, Guantanamo is infamous for its US detention facilities, shrouded in secrecy and associated with grave human rights violations.

Cuba's president said that the plan to hold immigrants in "illegally occupied" Cuban territory is "an act of brutality."

He said that thousands of migrants that the administration "forcibly expels" will be placed "next to well-known prisons of torture and illegal detention."

The Trump administration has been criticized for its treatment of undocumented immigrants, transferring detained civilians in military jets to their countries of origin. The issue spurred a confrontation between Trump and Colombia's President Gustavo Petro over the deportation of Colombian immigrants in military aircraft.

Initially, Petro rejected the idea of allowing US military jets to land with migrants on Colombian soil, condemning the US treatment of them as criminals. This led to a tense standoff, marked by a series of retaliatory tariff measures between the two nations. However, after talks, the administrations reached a resolution with Colombia offering its presidential jet as a means to transport the migrants, easing the diplomatic impasse.