The Biden government wants to close the prison in Guantanamo

The President of the United States, Joe Biden wants to close the iconic Guantanamo prison before his term endsthe White House spokeswoman said Friday.

So the Democrat is starting from a campaign promise by Barack Obama, who would never be able to fulfill it for lack of agreement with Congress.

When the White House spokeswoman was asked at a press conference about a possible closure of the Guantanamo prison during Biden’s tenure, Jen Psaki said, “This is certainly our goal and purpose.”

“We have initiated a process in the National Security Council (…) to work with the various federal agencies and evaluate the current situation (…) inherited from the previous government”, He said.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump had shown his willingness to keep the Guantánamo prison open and “fill it with bad guys.”

Once in office, he retained that position.

Obama had promised the release of some inmates in that military prison that houses prisoners associated with the “war on terror,” including Pakistani Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The prison still houses some 40 inmates, 26 of whom are considered too dangerous to be released, but who have not undergone any legal proceedings.

The detention center was quickly built on a US naval base on the eastern tip of the island of Cuba under George W. Bush’s presidency.

This 117 km2 enclave was ceded by Cuba to the United States in 1903 in gratitude for its powerful neighbor for his help in the war against the Spanish.

The first twenty inmates arrived there on January 11, 2002, after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

From then on, this prison epitomized the excesses in the fight against terrorism in the United States worldwide.

Images of prisoners in orange overalls, behind barbed wire fences, shocked the world, as did the force-feeding imposed on those who refused to eat.

At the peak of his activity, 780 people were detained in Guantanamo for alleged links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Hundreds of them were later released or transferred to their home country or third countries.

(With information from AFP)

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