Guantanamo's neighbors trying to adapt
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer.
CAIMANERA, Cuba, 22 (AP) - Built on the coast of Guantanamo Bay, this Cuban
town of 10,600 people is tied like no other to the U.S. naval station in
southeastern Cuba.
Residents of this remote, southeastern community of steaming, narrow streets
and weathered wooden houses are the closest Cuban neighbors to the U.S. military
camp now filling up with prisoners from the war on Afghanistan.
The sixth flight of Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners arrived Monday, adding a
new chapter to what Caimanera residents say is a long story of the town and a
45-square-mile piece of land seized by U.S. troops in 1898.
The Americans have remained, despite opposition from the Cuban government.
Cuba, however, has not opposed holding the prisoners on its soil.
"Thanks to the base, Caimanera grew,'' said Ofelia Garcia, the
community's historian. "But it has also suffered much because of its
presence. We have not been able to develop a normal life here.''
The community of fishermen and salt mine workers flourished at the beginning
of the 20th century precisely because of the base's construction.
It was a magnet for Cuban workers and a popular spot for visitors, including
Cubans from across the island and people from nearby countries such as Jamaica.
The base, Garcia said, eventually had thousands of Cuban employees. Many
American military officers and their families lived off base in Caimanera.
That all changed in 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power through a
revolution.
In a little less than three years, Cuban defense forces formed a military
zone along the 17-mile perimeter of the American base, seen on this side as
enemy territory.
During that period, thousands of Cuban employees were fired or quit their
jobs at the base, Garcia said. Today, less than a dozen Cubans work there.
Once the relationship between Cuba and the United States changed, Caimanera
began to lose an important source of employment - good jobs that at the time
paid $2.80 a day.
Many former workers left, but those who stayed - and successive generations
- learned to live with the watchtowers, the fences, and the proximity of mine
fields that Cuba still maintains around the U.S. installation.
Two army posts on the road leading to Caimanera open only to the town's
residents and their relatives.
The community grew so poor that in 1985 Castro's socialist government
ordered salaries here and in the nearby town of Boqueron raised by 30 percent to
encourage workers to stay.
In 1991, the government decided to use the base to promote tourism, opening
a 19-room hotel here. Still, few visit: just 300 foreigners last year, manager
Angel Barreda said.
Most who stay at the Hotel Caimanera are Cuban-Americans visiting relatives
in town. Those family members living in the United States are an important
source of income for Caimanera, which had an unemployment rate of 18.2 percent
in 2000.
About two miles away, about 5,000 visitors a year - mostly Europeans -
travel to Guantanamo town through trips arranged by government tourism agencies.
There, they can go to Malones lookout to see a section of the base being
used to hold the prisoners. Military approval is required to get to that site.
Living so close to the base, Caimanera residents have access to the U.S.
military's television programming, providing glimpses about the arriving
prisoners that few Cubans have had.
Judging by the number of prisoners and the space set aside to house them, "it
must be pretty bad over there,'' said Manuel Prieto, 73, a resident and former
base worker. "But I understand that they are building a prison'' with more
room, he said.
Prieto himself was a prisoner on the base for six days in 1961 when he was
questioned by U.S. military officials about possible Cuban agents at the
American installation
Prieto, who worked 14 years at the base as a welder's assistant, said he
still suffers nightmares.
"I dream that I am there,'' he said, "but I cannot leave.''
United States 1, Cuba 0
By Ken Peters, Ap Sports Writer
PASADENA, Calif. 21 (AP) - Brian McBride's first-half penalty kick carried
the United States to a 1-0 victory over Cuba on Monday and into the
quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The Americans, who opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory over South
Korea, will face the second-place team from the group that includes Mexico,
Guatemala and El Salvador.
The contest was only the second between the countries since Fidel Castro
took control in Cuba. The Americans beat the Cubans 3-0 in a Gold Cup
first-round game in 1998 and are 3-1-1 all-time against them.
McBride, one of the national team's five regular starters who played against
Cuba, provided the lone score during the 22nd minute of a game marked by blown
scoring opportunities by the Americans, who completely dominated play but could
not finish their chances.
The United States outshot the Cubans 16-5 and held a 5-2 edge in shots on
goal. American goalkeeper Kasey Keller had to make just two saves, both
relatively routine.
The Cubans came closest to scoring when Jeniel Marquez broke down the right
side inside the box and kicked the ball toward the far post. But Keller dove to
his right and smothered the ball.
McBride took the penalty kick after Cuba's Mario Rodriguez tripped DeMarcus
Beasley in the box.
McBride punched the ball into the upper right corner of the net as Cuban
goalkeeper Odelin Molina guessed wrong and dived the other way, giving himself
no chance to stop the shot.
After the Americans were unable to cash in on seven shots in the first half,
they missed on several other good opportunities in the second. Jeff Cunningham,
wide-open and 8 yards from the goal, kicked the ball high over the bar in the
60th minute. Josh Wolff, off on several shots in the first half, missed with a
left-footed shot from close range in the 50th minute.
In the first half, Cobi Jones, another national team starter, kicked the
ball straight to Molina on a shot from 10 yards in the 29th minute. Wolff had
sent a header high over the bar off a fine cross by Jones in the 17th minute.
Landon Donovan muffed a close-range chance in the 40th minute when he rolled
his left-footer from the right side all the way across past the left post and
out of bounds.
Cuba managed just two shots in the half, and defender Jeff Agoos snuffed the
Cubans' only threat of the half when he cleared Livan Perez's attempt from just
outside the right post after he had gotten behind the defense. | 
