The Razor's Edge
2014-03-24 11:33:12 UTC
March 24, 2014
A Step Toward Justice in the Long War on Terror
Uruguay Offers to Welcome Guantánamo Detainees
by BENJAMIN DANGL
Under the Presidency of José Pepe Mujica, Uruguay has made a number of
international headlines in recent years for progressive moves such as
legalizing same sex marriage, abortion and marijuana cultivation and trade,
as well as withdrawing its troops from Haiti. This week, Mujica offered to
welcome detainees from the USs detention center at its base in Guantánamo
Bay, Cuba.
The Uruguayan president accepted a proposal from the Obama administration to
host the detainees. They are coming as refugees and there will be a place
for them in Uruguay if they want to bring their families, Mujica explained.
If they want to make their nests and work in Uruguay, they can remain in
the country.
I was imprisoned for many years and I know how it is, he said. The
left-leaning president is a former revolutionary guerilla who was jailed for
14 years before and during Uruguays 1973-1985 dictatorship. After his
release, he ended his guerilla activities and entered politics, becoming the
Minister of Agriculture in 2005 under the Tabaré Vázquez administration, and
was elected to the presidency in 2010.
Mujica, who has been touted as the worlds poorest president due to his
frugal lifestyle and the fact that he donates about 90% of his presidential
salary to charities and social programs, still lives on a flower farm with
his wife outside the capital, and drives a beat up Volkswagen Beetle to
work. Earlier this year, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his
progressive marijuana legalization program and views against excessive
consumerism. His newest move against the human rights abuses of the war on
terror has put him back in the global spotlight.
Standing Against a Symbol of the War on Terror
The detention center at the US base in Guantánamo Bay has long been a symbol
of the human rights abuses that have come to define the so-called war on
terror. After 9/11, the George W. Bush administration began using the
facility to detain suspected terrorists. It quickly became notorious as a
site of inhuman treatment, torture, and lawlessness; a decade later, many of
the detainees have been held without charges or a trial.
Roughly 800 men and boys have been kept in Guantánamo as part of the USs
terror suspect roundup. Now only 154 remain, and the Obama administration,
with support from Congress, is trying to make good on its promise to shut
the detention center down. As part of those moves, Washington is seeking new
countries to host the released detainees.
Uruguay is the first Latin American nation to accept Obamas offer to
welcome former prisoners onto its soil. Since Obamas election, 38
Guantánamo detainees have been released to their home countries, and 43 have
been resettled in 17 other countries. According to Human Rights Watch, the
US wants to send detainees to countries that can provide the security the US
seeks under the terms of the transfer. Uruguayan press reports that the
transfer would likely involve five detainees who would have to stay within
Uruguay for at least two years.
While Mujica and the US Ambassador are clear that the plans surrounding the
transfer are not finalized, Mujicas reasons for hosting the men are a sign
that Uruguay is taking important steps toward justice against Washingtons
long-standing war on terror.
For years, countless activists, governments and human rights groups have
called for the closure of the US detention center in Guantánamo Bay. Last
July, activist Andrés Conteris, who has worked for decades on human rights
issues in Latin America,went on a hunger strike for over three months in
solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners in Guantánamo Bay.
The strike denounced the inhumane and unlawful treatment of the detainees;
numerous cases of physical, psychological, religious and medical torture
against prisoners have been widely reported over the years. It is this
inhumane treatment that President Mujica is standing against in his
welcoming of the detainees.
Given Pepe Mujicas experience with long-term torture, Conteris explained
to me, referencing Mujicas own imprisonment, this gesture offering to
resettle Guantánamo prisoners in Uruguay not only expresses his countrys
commitment to human rights, but it shows a personal connection this
president has with those suffering inhuman treatment perpetrated by military
forces.
Benjamin Dangls latest book Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and
States in Latin America
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1849350159/counterpunchmaga> (AK
Press) is on contemporary Latin American social movements and their
relationships with the regions new leftist governments. He is editor of
TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on world events, and
UpsideDownWorld.org, a website on activism and politics in Latin America.
Email BenDangl(at)gmail(dot)com.
A Step Toward Justice in the Long War on Terror
Uruguay Offers to Welcome Guantánamo Detainees
by BENJAMIN DANGL
Under the Presidency of José Pepe Mujica, Uruguay has made a number of
international headlines in recent years for progressive moves such as
legalizing same sex marriage, abortion and marijuana cultivation and trade,
as well as withdrawing its troops from Haiti. This week, Mujica offered to
welcome detainees from the USs detention center at its base in Guantánamo
Bay, Cuba.
The Uruguayan president accepted a proposal from the Obama administration to
host the detainees. They are coming as refugees and there will be a place
for them in Uruguay if they want to bring their families, Mujica explained.
If they want to make their nests and work in Uruguay, they can remain in
the country.
I was imprisoned for many years and I know how it is, he said. The
left-leaning president is a former revolutionary guerilla who was jailed for
14 years before and during Uruguays 1973-1985 dictatorship. After his
release, he ended his guerilla activities and entered politics, becoming the
Minister of Agriculture in 2005 under the Tabaré Vázquez administration, and
was elected to the presidency in 2010.
Mujica, who has been touted as the worlds poorest president due to his
frugal lifestyle and the fact that he donates about 90% of his presidential
salary to charities and social programs, still lives on a flower farm with
his wife outside the capital, and drives a beat up Volkswagen Beetle to
work. Earlier this year, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his
progressive marijuana legalization program and views against excessive
consumerism. His newest move against the human rights abuses of the war on
terror has put him back in the global spotlight.
Standing Against a Symbol of the War on Terror
The detention center at the US base in Guantánamo Bay has long been a symbol
of the human rights abuses that have come to define the so-called war on
terror. After 9/11, the George W. Bush administration began using the
facility to detain suspected terrorists. It quickly became notorious as a
site of inhuman treatment, torture, and lawlessness; a decade later, many of
the detainees have been held without charges or a trial.
Roughly 800 men and boys have been kept in Guantánamo as part of the USs
terror suspect roundup. Now only 154 remain, and the Obama administration,
with support from Congress, is trying to make good on its promise to shut
the detention center down. As part of those moves, Washington is seeking new
countries to host the released detainees.
Uruguay is the first Latin American nation to accept Obamas offer to
welcome former prisoners onto its soil. Since Obamas election, 38
Guantánamo detainees have been released to their home countries, and 43 have
been resettled in 17 other countries. According to Human Rights Watch, the
US wants to send detainees to countries that can provide the security the US
seeks under the terms of the transfer. Uruguayan press reports that the
transfer would likely involve five detainees who would have to stay within
Uruguay for at least two years.
While Mujica and the US Ambassador are clear that the plans surrounding the
transfer are not finalized, Mujicas reasons for hosting the men are a sign
that Uruguay is taking important steps toward justice against Washingtons
long-standing war on terror.
For years, countless activists, governments and human rights groups have
called for the closure of the US detention center in Guantánamo Bay. Last
July, activist Andrés Conteris, who has worked for decades on human rights
issues in Latin America,went on a hunger strike for over three months in
solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners in Guantánamo Bay.
The strike denounced the inhumane and unlawful treatment of the detainees;
numerous cases of physical, psychological, religious and medical torture
against prisoners have been widely reported over the years. It is this
inhumane treatment that President Mujica is standing against in his
welcoming of the detainees.
Given Pepe Mujicas experience with long-term torture, Conteris explained
to me, referencing Mujicas own imprisonment, this gesture offering to
resettle Guantánamo prisoners in Uruguay not only expresses his countrys
commitment to human rights, but it shows a personal connection this
president has with those suffering inhuman treatment perpetrated by military
forces.
Benjamin Dangls latest book Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and
States in Latin America
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1849350159/counterpunchmaga> (AK
Press) is on contemporary Latin American social movements and their
relationships with the regions new leftist governments. He is editor of
TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on world events, and
UpsideDownWorld.org, a website on activism and politics in Latin America.
Email BenDangl(at)gmail(dot)com.