Guantánamo and the Logic of Colonialism

Abstract

The creation of the prison camp at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is part of a historical continuity of colonialism on the island. Over two hundred years before the United States sent the first enemy combatants to Cuba, the Spanish Empire began sending enemy Indians to the island. The rationales and circumstances that gave rise to the prison complex in Guantanamo share much in common with those that motivated Spain to imprison Apaches and other Native people on Cuba. This essay argues that the policies of both Spain and the United States have roots in a similar logic of colonialism.