Cuba

Mine Action

Last updated: 08 December 2019

20-Year Summary

The Republic of Cuba’s authorities maintain minefields around the United States (US) naval base at Guantánamo in the southeast of the country. There is no mine action program in Cuba and it has not conducted clearance of minefields in the last 10 years.

Treaty status
Mine Ban Treaty	State not party
Other conventions	Party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) but not the Amended Protocol II on landmines. Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Management and coordination
Humanitarian Mine Action commenced	No program
National mine action management actors	None
Mine action legislation	None
Mine action strategic and operational plans	None
Mine action standards	None
Operators	None

Impact
Extent of contamination (landmines)	Unknown

Addressing the impact
Land release 2014–2018 (5-year total)	No clearance has been conducted in the last 10 years.

Contamination and Impact

Cuba’s mine contamination remains unchanged from previous years. In 2007, Cuba said it carries out “a strict policy with regard to guaranteeing a responsible use of antipersonnel mines with an exclusively defensive character and for [Cuba’s] national security.”[1] According to an earlier statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, existing minefields are duly “marked, fenced and guarded” in accordance with CCW Amended Protocol II Meeting of Experts.[2] According to a book published in 2008, mines laid around the naval base detonate “at least once a month,”[3] but it has not been possible to independently confirm this claim. In February 2018, a fire broke out in the 17-mile strip of land separating the Guantánamo base from Cuban territory, which reportedly detonated 1,000 landmines and burned 1,700 acres over three days before being extinguished.[4]

[1] Statement by Rebeca Hernández Toledano, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations, “Item 29: Assistance in mine action,” UN General Assembly, Fourth Committee, New York, 6 November 2007.

[2] Statement by the Directorate of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19 June 2000.

[3] “The Cuban mines detonate at least once a month, sometimes starting fires that sweep across the fence line. [Staff Sergeant Kaveh Wooley of the US Marines]…described a fire that started the previous summer and turned into a giant cook-off, with about 30 mines exploding…” D. P. Erikson, Cuba Wars: Fidel Castro, the United States, and the Next Revolution (Bloomsbury, United States, October 2008), pp. 196–197.

[4] “U.S. and Cuban forces unite to fight a common foe: wildfire at Guantanamo,” USA Today, 1 March 2018.