MINFAR Demands Return of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base from U.S. via Tweet

The Cuban regime has formally called on the United States to hand back the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, as expressed in a tweet from the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR). The ministry claimed that the territory is unlawfully occupied in the Guantanamo province and criticized the U.S. for planning to detain immigrants there in handcuffs. "The White House intends to confine around 30,000 people at the site. Cuba demands the return of this enclave," the tweet stated.

This declaration has sparked mockery among Cuban netizens on social media. "If you have the guts, go to the base and remove the Yankees instead of posting," wrote a user named El Pirata Web. Another, El Rincón Libertario, chimed in, "Tweets won't get them out, go and remove them." An emigrated Cuban questioned, "Why not occupy the base? Cowards!" A young woman sarcastically remarked, "Is MINFAR tweeting now? Pick up your rifles and kick them out; after all, aren't you brave? Oh, right, you're only tough with dissidents."

Another tweeter remarked, "The Guantanamo Bay prison is a five-star Meliá compared to Villa Marista or any other Cuban jail." When former President Donald Trump announced plans to expand the Guantanamo Naval Base's capacity to accommodate up to 30,000 migrants, he clarified that the detention center would house migrants accused of serious crimes.

Upon learning of this decision, the Cuban government denounced it, warning of potential "serious consequences." In a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the regime described the move as a "demonstration of the brutality" with which the White House addresses the migration crisis, attributing it to U.S. hostility towards migrants' countries of origin. Cuban leader Díaz-Canel also criticized the act, calling it "brutal" to forcibly send thousands to Guantanamo alongside "torture and illegal detention centers."

Initially, the U.S. government indicated that those sent to the base would be criminals, but it has now suggested that illegal migrants without violent offenses might also be detained there. "We will have facilities that meet the same standards as other detention centers in the United States, and I doubt the president will restrict his actions to ensure the nation's security," stated Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Noem recently visited the Naval Base, where several flights carrying detained illegal immigrants have already landed. "I was just in Cuba and witnessed firsthand the disembarkation of foreign criminals in Guantanamo. My message to foreign murderers, rapists, child predators, and gangsters: don't come to this country, or we will hunt you down and lock you up," she emphasized.

She did not specify how long detainees might stay before being deported, but clarified that the intention is for temporary confinement, not for "weeks and months." By Saturday, the 8th, there were "more than three dozen people" in the detention center, according to the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees operations at the facility.

The Trump administration has made it clear that no distinction will be made between illegal migrants who have committed serious crimes and those who merely crossed the border unlawfully; all are subject to deportation. "If you are a person, a foreigner who enters the United States of America illegally, you are, by definition, a criminal, and therefore, subject to deportation," declared White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.