Stakes at the Base

One issue on which the U.S. intends to stand firm is the $76 million U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, and last week there were signs that its determination might be put to test before long. Castro's newspaper stepped up its campaign against the base, charging U.S. officers with "hostility." A U.S. marine, said Revolucion, had "deliberately" jostled a Cuban unionist at the base and "insulted our country with the worst phrases imaginable. Working conditions are worsening daily."

Clear Rights. The U.S. rights in Guantanamo are clear and indisputable. By a treaty signed in 1903 and reaffirmed in 1934, the U.S. recognized Cuba's "ultimate sovereignty" over the 45-sq.-mi. enclave in Oriente province near the island's southeast end. In return, Cuba yielded the U.S. "complete jurisdiction and control" through a perpetual lease that can be voided only by mutual agreement.

For a low rental ($3,386.25 annually), the U.S. Navy gets its best natural harbor south of Charleston, S.C., plus 19,621 acres of land, enough for a complex of 1,400 buildings and two airfields, one of them capable of handling entire squadrons of the Navy's hottest jets, e.g., 1,000-m.p.h. F8U Crusaders, 700-m.p.h. A4D Skyhawks. In terms of global strategy, Guantanamo has only marginal value. It served as an antisubmarine center in World War II, and could be one again. But its greatest worth is as an isolated, warm-water training base for the fleet. With an anchorage capable of handling 50 warships at once, it is the Navy's top base for shakedown cruises and refresher training for both sailors and airmen. What Cuba gets out of the deal is 3,700 jobs for the technicians and laborers who help maintain the base, a payroll of $7,000,000 annually for hard-pressed Oriente.

Fire & Water. So far, Castro has made no overt move against Guantanamo. Last October, when a fire threatened to destroy neighboring Caimanera, the base commander, Rear Admiral Frank W. Fenno, sent fire trucks to help extinguish the blaze, then gave more than half a ton of food. The Navy's thanks: statements by the base workers' union boss, Machinist Federico Figueras Larrazabal, that "workers at the naval base have to be alert to unmask any maneuver of the North American imperialists similar to that they performed when they blew up the Maine." As of last week, the Navy fired Figueras for this and similar remarks.

The U.S. Navy has no intention of quitting Guantanamo, and the base can undoubtedly defend itself. The Navy does not expect that. What it does wait for is an attempt to make the base untenable by cutting off the only water supply for 6,800 Navymen and dependents, 2,200,000 gal. piped in daily from a Yateras River pumping station five miles outside base limits. Several times in late 1958. Castro's rebels turned off the water just to make the Americans jump. It can be done again; within a few days, the U.S. Navy would be shipping in water tankers to withstand a siege by thirst.

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