Mujica Asks Obama To Release Cuban Prisoners from Guantanamo

The Uruguayan president cited the fact that he was a prisoner during the military dictatorship. There are already 18 countries who have agreed to collaborate on taking in the prisoners.

As one of the exchanges for Uruguay to take in prisoners from Guantanamo, President Jose Mujica has requested that Barack Obama “do everything in his power to release the Cuban prisoners who are there,”* referring to “two or three Cubans”* who still remain in the U.S. naval base prison. Moreover, he added, “to [those of] us who have had comrades as refugees all over the world, this is an inalienable matter of principles, non-negotiable. We have earned the moral authority to ask the powerful to be less proud and less imposing. If these negotiations do come to an end, Uruguay shall feel it was at the service of a cause to close a disgraceful chapter for humanity.”*

Mujica also explained his decision to cooperate with the United States and assured that there is no need for them to wait for two years to leave the country “because we are nobody’s warden.”* For the president, it would be nothing but a “voluntary gesture from them to find a way out of that disgrace and by no means an imposition,”* making it clear that the exchange “is still far from being settled.”*

At the same time, government sources disregarded those in Uruguay that criticize the decision to host the prisoners. These sources have explained that the prisoners are not dangerous and that they will have both custody and protection, as well as complete freedom to leave Uruguayan soil whenever they desire.

President Mujica explained that taking in the prisoners from the Guantanamo prison is an issue that is “far from being over because it depends on decisions out of our reach.”* In his address, he defined Guantanamo as “a real disgrace for humanity and even more of a disgrace for a country like the United States, which is most commonly known for aiming criticism at other societies based on the principles of human rights. [It is a] disgrace because of the amount of prisoners who were there without due process, without a prosecutor or a judge or conclusive evidence.”*

The Uruguayan president has shown his support of Barack Obama’s intent to shut down the prison set up on the island of Cuba, justifying that the delay has been due to the fact that “the possibilities and resources [of the administration] have been granted by and limited to the power and judgment of the U.S. Senate, which also has its demands. We already know what the political game between nations is like and from a realistic point of view, we were asked months ago if we were able to take in some refugees, the same as other countries. After some discussion, we answered affirmatively because today and always, with the exception of those painful years during the dictatorship, Uruguay has been a country of refuge. And to us, it is a matter of principle.”*

A Country of Refuge

In his statement, Mujica cited the fact that he was held captive for 13 years during the military dictatorship, after his time as a guerrilla fighter in the Tupamaros National Liberation Movement. Therefore, he knows firsthand the upsetting experience of the lack of justice and judicial guarantees. “We would never accept to be wardens of anyone, nor can we support the legality of Guantanamo’s prison, and we are not starting that debate. But we cannot avoid it because of the danger posed by deceitful interpretations, nor can we be distracted from the enormous tragedy affecting these people, who have for 12 years been out of communication with the world, detained without proven cause and without having seen a district attorney or a judge, with no guarantees. It is a human disgrace. We cannot conceive that each day pro-human rights speeches are made, yet when the time comes to make an injustice right, we keep our arms crossed. The first right is of the human order. We have long criticized American imperialism and its abuse of power, that is tangible, and we renounce nothing. But when there is a president fighting to put an end to an inherited disgrace, not only to his country but to humanity, this little country of Uruguay, which gave refuge to anarchists persecuted and expelled by other countries when it was claimed that they were terrible terrorists, here they were given shelter and work. And well, the fruits they gave to Uruguay. Currently, this little country of Uruguay has dozens of refugees who coexist with the rest of us without making a fuss, because that is how their safety is guaranteed, and they fight for life.”*

According to the Uruguayan government, today there are 18 countries that have offered to collaborate in order to take in prisoners from Guantanamo, and there are 89 detainees in the prison located on Cuban soil that have abandoned or are about to leave the prison.