After a three-hour flight aboard an Air Sunshine E-110, we
landed in Guantanamo Bay at about 5:30pm. Passengers on the flight included
other media representatives (WJXT’s Bruce Hamilton and an Israeli TV
journalist), a guard from Camp 6, a lawyer, a translator, and contract workers.
JTF (Joint Task Force) GITMO Public Affairs Officer Lt. Cody Starken, 25 years
old, met us at the airport. He is member of the Florida National Guard and grew
up in the Cape Canaveral area.
The coastline is rocky and mountainous. The weather was
warm, humid, and overcast. The airport runway juts out near the entrance of the
bay. The airport was a relatively quiet place. We, along with the 13-or-so
other passengers were escorted into a giant hanger where our entry clearance
forms and passports were checked. Then all of our bags were put through an
x-ray machine and we walked through a metal detector. We didn’t even get
screened at Ft. Lauderdale International Airport.
We boarded a ferry that took us across the bay to the windward side of Guantanamo Bay. During the 15-minute ride over, Lt. Starken provided us with our press kit and schedule for the next 72 hours. It includes tours of the detention campus, interviews with the first and second in command of the JTF and the commander of the naval base.
When we arrived at the other side there was a Labor Day
party going on for people who live on the base. A stage was set up and kids
were playing on the beach and swimming in the water. We were told a hot dog
eating contest was going to take place.
One thing some people don’t realize is that Guantanamo Bay is more than just a place where about 230 detainees are being held. It’s an active naval base where more than 5,000 people live and work. There is a McDonald’s here, a Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, and A&W. There are playgrounds, bowling allies, bars, and stores here.
There is an elementary, middle, and high school here. The last high school graduating class had 17 people in it.
We met Maj. Diana Haynie, who is basically Lt. Starken’s boss. She runs the Public Affairs Office at JTF GITMO and is also part of the Florida National Guard unit based in St. Augustine. She joined us for dinner at Pizza Hut, where they were out of medium-sized pizzas, medium wings, and breadsticks. We’re told that many of the stores and restaurants here often run out of certain items. Lt. Starken said in the past, the Taco Bell in Guantanamo Bay has run out of beef, chicken, and hard taco shells. They may go without shipments of certain supplies for weeks or months at a time.
After dinner we were driven around in a van and given a brief tour of the 45-square-mile naval base at night. From one of the highest points of the base we could see the fence that divides the base with Cuba. The fence runs 17 miles and was lit up by fluorescent lights so we could see it snake off in the distance from our vantage point.
The entire naval base is self-sufficient. Windmills help power the base. A water desalination plant provides clean drinking water.
Our lodging situation here on the base far exceeded my expectations. Patrick Fleming and I are staying in a two-story, furnished town home in East Caravella complete with living room, kitchen, dining room, full-sized beds, central air-conditioning, and cable TV (I’m watching the Miami / Florida State game right now).
As Patrick made note of earlier tonight, it’s kind of amazing that just a few miles away, in Cuban territory, the living situation is drastically different.
