A U.S. Navy submarine has pulled into Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in a show of force as a fleet of Russian warships gather for planned military exercises in the Caribbean.

A U.S. Navy submarine has arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in a show of force as a fleet of Russian warships gather for planned military exercises in the Caribbean.

U.S. Southern Command said the USS Helena, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, pulled into the waters near the U.S. base in Cuba on Thursday, just a day after a Russian frigate, a nuclear-powered submarine, an oil tanker and a rescue tug crossed into Havana Bay after drills in the Atlantic Ocean.

The stop is part of a “routine port visit” as the submarine travels through Southern Command’s region, it said in a social media post.

Other U.S. ships also have been tracking and monitoring the Russian drills, which Pentagon officials say do not represent a threat to the United States.

  • zephyreks@lemmy.mlEnglish
    02·
    5 months ago

    Why does the US have a base in Guantanamo Bay, anyway? I thought the government of Cuba has protested it for literally half a century?

    I guess it’s for the same reason why the US embargo of Cuba has seen mass condemnation in the UN General Assembly for more than 30 years without result…

    Might makes right?

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      0·
      5 months ago

      Why does the US have a base in Guantanamo Bay, anyway?

      Because of a 1903 lease agreement with no end date which the post-revolutionary government has not gone back on so far. They protest it, but they have yet to actually say the terms have changed. And they also have a backlog of U.S. money waiting for them when they wish to renegotiate. Don’t underestimate the PR boost having a U.S. naval base on Cuban soil gives to the Cuban government the same way having North Korea and South Korea share a border is good propaganda for both countries.

      • zephyreks@lemmy.mlEnglish
        02·
        5 months ago

        I never understood how slavery could stand for so long… But I guess now I do?

        Nevermind that the embargo on Cuba limits the utility of US money.

        Edit: for a similar scenario, look at the conditions for Haitian “independence” from France. France forced Haiti to pay for the lost property (read: slaves) that were freed by independence, costing the Haitian economy something like 20 billion dollars of economic contribution… For daring to free slaves. But oh no my agreements!

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
          0·
          5 months ago

          All Cuba has to do is go to the negotiating table. It is good for their propaganda to not do so and they don’t need Guantanamo for anything.

          • zephyreks@lemmy.mlEnglish
            02·
            5 months ago

            All Haiti has to do was send it’s slaves back to France, I really don’t see the problem.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
              0·
              5 months ago

              Are you really equating the U.S. sending a yearly uncashed check and keeping a Naval base at the ass end of Cuba with people being enslaved?