Cubadebate

US sailors stationed at Guantánamo in the 1950s on a night out in Cuba

Alberto N. Jones

August 1, 2004

During a campaign speech in Tampa on July 16, President George W. Bush accused the Cuban government of procuress or pimps, who have turned Cuba into a mega international sex tourist destination, by encouraging the Cuban women into prostitution, child prostitution and pornography, effectively replacing SE Asia, as the prime destination of this human scourge.

Having lived in Cuba 20 years prior to the triumph of the Revolution, 20 years after and close to 25 years in the United States, should allow me to provide an honest assessment of these offensive, cruel and demoralizing statements against my fellow countrymen. Because of the profound respect that I profess for my host country, I will refrain from any comparisons between the United States and Cuba on this very degrading issue.

Shortly before the outbreak of WW II, the United States government launched a huge expansion of its Naval Base facilities at Guantánamo Bay Cuba, turning it into a year-round training facility. Thousands of officers and enlisted men stationed on the base or as part of the fleet, traveled regularly to Cuba on shore leave, spawning a vibrant prostitution community, that enticed hundreds of women from all over the country to relocate to Caimanera, Boquerón or Guantánamo to enroll into a booming sex trade.

Although the city of Guantánamo is much smaller and less important than Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Cienfuegos, Camaguey, Holguín and Santiago de Cuba, it soon enjoyed the unsavory title of having the largest "Red Light" district in the country, which influenced the behavior of every individual or institution in these communities, through the abundance of prostitution money, drugs, gambling, graft, etc.

The official Red Light district in Guantánamo was commonly known as the "Zone" and it covered a north-south area of six blocks (B. Varona, D. Marmol, E. Palma, E. Giro, Crombet and Aguilera streets). The east-west area covered seven blocks (Oriente, J. del Sol, A. Saco, S. Sanchez, Agramonte and Moncada streets). Within this perimeter and on Marine street in Caimanera were the finest brothels in town; The Cachalot, The Gran Vals, Roof Garden, Gold & Silver and others.

Additionally, Guantánamo had the largest amount of bars per capita in the nation, most of which had female waitresses, who were expected to be "nice" to their customers. Other locations described as Night Clubs, which catered primarily to mid level officers, kept a "ladies registry" with personal pictures, body measurements and other important specs, that would be provided upon request to potential sex partners.

The USO had its office on Calixto Garcia's street. It later moved to a more spacious location on Pedro A. Perez street. Among its many activities were, to recruit middle-class, educated, white ladies, who were invited to local parties they hosted regularly. Also, every Monday evening, they chartered a special two-coach train that would shuttle these ladies to "dance" at the Officers Club on the naval base.

The Uvero beach was the extra secluded hideaway of the ultra-rich and famous Lion's Club members of southern Oriente. Located a few miles east of the United States Naval Base, this small, white sand inlet looked more like a large swimming pool, because of a natural coral reef wall that isolated the beach completely from the open sea. A man made opening allowed small and mid-size motor boat to access the swimming area.

Most, if not all of the wealthiest families of this part of the country, had their luxurious summer homes at this beach. High ranking Cuban politicians, clergy, police and army chiefs, judges, journalists, bankers and administrators mingled and partied freely with the commanders, captains and admirals from the US naval base. Another characteristic of this beach is that there were no businesses. Each family alternatively organized back yard or beach parties, to which everyone, except employees, was automatically invited.

During the summer season, it was a family environment with children, parents, grandparents and guests. Even so, there were different sorts of incidents taking place, in which during a party, someone could go missing or someone returned unexpectedly home to encounter some unholy situation, which lead to fist-fight, minor injuries, divorce and a few shots going off. None of these incidents were ever subjected to a police report. Needless to say, that off season, this became the perfect hideaway for non-reportable sexual activities and orgies.

Lottery, bolita, baseball, billiard, car tag, coroto, and cock-fight, was some of the generalized gambling culture in our community. The use of marijuana, cocaine, heroine and some mood altering medications, was an open secret, especially among those financially secure.

For these and many other reasons, females living in the Guantánamo region, whenever they traveled out of the area, if asked by strangers where they were from, most would choose a generic answer by saying "Oriente" the province, rather than Guantánamo, the city, which most would associate with prostitution.

Because of the close interaction between businesspeople, sex trade operators and navy personnel stationed on the US naval base, a large underground network was forged, through which, the US military personnel who could travel unhindered through the naval base gate, would transport hundreds of cartoons of cigarette and other types of easily marketable goods, that would be sold to black market wholesalers in Cuba, which provided the extra cash the US military personnel needed to support his party/prostitution lifestyle in Guantánamo.

In this murky, convoluted underworld, high ranking officers/civilian provided contract leads, secured bids or offered inside information to individuals or companies engaged in doing business with the Navy.

A case in point. One of the most powerful businessman in our community, secured through this tortuous relations, a lifetime, non-bid monopoly on yearly sales of thousands of dollars in cigars, soft and alcoholic beverage to the naval base. Additionally and through these same connections, his fleet of 4 or 5 vessels that transported passengers to and from the naval base, had an exclusive privilege of purchasing fuel, lubricants and dry dock services at military discount prices on the base, as opposed to the other operators, who had to purchase such services at regular prices in Cuba.

For most residents of Guantánamo, this was a city under siege. Three or four times a week, a special train transporting hundreds of enlisted personnel on shore leave arrived in town, unloading its human cargo, that headed to the "Zone" to engage in drinking, sex and all other outrageous behavior.

This unique environment made Guantánamo different from the rest of Cuba and for that matter, the rest of the world. Party time in many countries take place on Friday or Saturday evenings. For Guantánamo, it was Sunday morning between 11 am and 3 pm, before the arrival of the train at 4 pm.

Numerous fights, injuries, break-inns, rape and even deaths related to the presence of US Navy personnel on leave, are recorded in legal documents and newspapers reports in Guantánamo. As a rule of thumb, if any Cuban would confront and respond to any of these vandals, he and not the perpetrator would be incarcerated.

On the other hand, no matter how serious or the magnitude of the offense that was committed by a US military personnel in Cuba, he was beyond the reach of the Cuban authorities and the Navy would take these individuals into custody promising, they would be prosecuted in Virginia Beach or Quantico. No Cuban was ever allowed to be part of these proceedings, if there was ever one.

Although there are no hard facts or irrefutable scientific research to support a widely held circumstantial evidence, Guantánamo had the highest prevalence of sexually transmitted disease, congenital malformation and leprosy in the country.

And yet, while all of the above was taking place in Guantánamo, unemployment and hunger was rampant, the public educational system was a disaster, healthcare facilities were literally non-existent, running water was available to 35% of the population, there were no highway connecting this city of 100,000 inhabitants with any surrounding community except the US naval base, but the Batista regime at the request of the United States government, was still willing to build outside the naval base perimeter, the longest runway in Cuba, as an alternate landing strip for navy fliers, even though, there were only TWO airline flights on Wednesdays and ONE the rest of the weekdays.

In the rarefied and corrupt environment that pervaded every social strata in Guantánamo, cops on the beat demanded their daily kick-back from every business owner, the Mayor used prisoners, earning $0.50 per day to construct the main square on another public entity, pocketing the rest of the salary that would have gone to civilian workers, while a senator bought six blocks of homes and lots on an unpaved road that he knew had been funded to be paved months later, pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in this scam.

On March 10, 1952, we were rushed out of school because General Batista led a coup d'etat against the democratically elected government. When I got home, my aunt was unable to explain clearly the consequence of this development, except to say, this is very bad, very bad.

Because of the generalized poverty, public schools had instituted a mid-morning breakfast program, since most kids went to school on an empty stomach. At the beginning of the school year, each student received and aluminum cup. At breakfast break, we lined-up for our hot chocolate/milk and buttered crackers. Friday's were great; we also got a slice of cheese.

Shortly after the coup d'etat, the cheese disappeared, then it was butter, then the chocolate and one day, they passed by collecting our aluminum cups. Some may remember the spectacle on January 1, 1959 after the triumph of the Revolution, when in the darkness of night, hundreds of high ranking Batista's government officials landed at Miami International Airport, with tens of pieces of luggage, stuffed with millions of dollars, stolen from our breakfast, healthcare, public works and others yet, they were received, protected and treated as gentlemen by the US government.

Mr. President, may these irrefutable facts serve to unmask your hypocritical concerns with the well being of the Cuban people, which you have shamelessly attempted to use to energize your aging and dwindling ultra-right-wing Cuban-American support base in Florida.

Irrespective of any political differences that many Cuban-Americans may have with their government, your attempt to demoralize the Cuban people, your obsession to inflict hunger, disease, divide families and death, corrode their unity and lay the groundwork for an eventual military incursion, are bound to fail, as it did before at the Bay of Pigs!

The Cuban people understands your anger and disappointment, after you and most of your predecessors have applied in vain General Valeriano Weyler's principle of suffocating the Cuban people to death, only to end up with the healthiest, most educated, moral and compassionate people in our hemisphere.