At $4,085 per year in rent, the American naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba, is “pretty much a bargain,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Steven Blaisdell at Monday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville.
Blaisdell, a former commanding officer of the base, was the guest speaker and shared some of his experiences at the only U.S. military base located in a communist country.
His two-year command at “Gitmo,” as the base is commonly called, ended last September. Blaisdell now serves as chief of staff for the commander of Navy Region Southeast.
He said the perception of the base held by most people is that of a prison, since the U.S. has held international terror suspects on the base for almost 10 years.
Many people regard it as “Alcatraz in Cuba,” said Blaisdell.
“Conditions of detention are not in question,” and those held there are treated better than any prisoners in the U.S. penal system, he said.
The incarcerated population is dwindling, from about 750 five years ago to about 170 now.
“It’s down to the really bad people – the ones other countries won’t take,” said Blaisdell.
He said the U.S. Navy has had a strong presence at Guantanamo for more than 100 years, beginning with an agreement forged in 1903 with the Cuban government.
After Fidel Castro took over the country in 1961, the Cuban government cashed a check for the lease, “and that constituted a contract,” said Blaisdell.
He said the base is “not going away” due to its enduring mission.
It serves as an outpost in the Caribbean for American naval interests and was the logistics hub for the humanitarian relief effort following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
Blaisdell said the 45-square-mile base “feels like it’s in a different era,” specifically the 1950s.
“There’s a hospital, an elementary school and a high school. It has a small-town feel,” said Blaisdell.
The base is self-contained when it comes to water and electricity, making providing essential services one of the biggest challenges faced by its commanding officer.
Unlike other military bases, Guantanamo can’t purchase utilities from the Cuban government.
Blaisdell said those utilities are expensive to provide, with seawater being converted into fresh water by reverse osmosis and power coming from diesel generators.
New technology has recently been put in place, including wind turbines that produce about 8 percent of the electricity used on the base, said Blaisdell.
There is no cellphone service on the base and the Internet is accessed via satellite. Supplies arrive every two weeks on a barge that takes on its cargo at Blount Island.
Even entertainment has to be imported. Blaisdell said while he was in Gitmo, Jacksonville band 38 Special visited for a concert and there was also a visit from Miss Universe and Miss USA.
“God bless them,” he said.
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