GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Relations between the United States and Cuba remain frigid at most levels of government.
But along the 17.4 miles of razor wire and cyclone fencing that separate this 45-square-mile outpost of America from Communist Cuba, relations between the two opposing military forces have become rather cordial in recent years.
Even the presence since early January of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters captured in Afghanistan has not heightened tensions, according to officials.
"We enjoy pretty much a benign relationship with the Cuban forces along the fence line," said Maj. Scott Packard, who commands the U.S. Marine security forces at Guantanamo Bay. It is the only American base in Communist territory and a 41-year irritant in the psyche of Fidel Castro.
Once a month over Cuban coffee, pastries and fresh fruit, Navy Capt. Robert Buehn, commander of the base, and his Cuban counterpart, a brigadier general in charge of the Frontier Brigade, meet to discuss concerns of both sides.
Officials say the discussions range from Cubans who brave the razor wire and minefields seeking asylum at the rate of about one a month to unusual troop movements on either side. And if something happens between the meetings, the two sides swap e-mails to defuse potential problems.
When the United States decided to house Taliban and al-Qaida fighters here, Buehn sent an e-mail to the Cubans advising them additional American troops would be brought in to build the camp and guard the captives. He told them not to worry; it was not a prelude to an invasion.
When the Cuban commander replied in an e-mail that he had some concerns about the security of the captives in what has become known as Camp X-Ray, which is within sight of the fence line, the two discussed it at their January meeting.
The primary concern of the Cubans, said Packard, was that some of the captives might escape and make their way into Cuba.
"But I think we addressed those concerns," said Packard.
When the Cubans wanted to take a group of journalists to the fence line recently, they advised the Americans in an e-mail where they would be and when they would be there. The Americans returned the favor last week when they took a group of journalists to the lone gate where Cubans who still work on the base can cross over.
Things have been so peaceful along the fence line that base officials were hard-pressed to remember the last time either side fired a shot in anger. They believe it happened nearly 30 years ago.
It has not always been as pleasant. The four-decade standoff has been punctuated by shots and shouted insults on occasion. As recently as 1994, Cuban security forces took such a dim view of those trying to get to the American side that they used machine guns and hand grenades to stop them, according to State Department reports.
There are still some Cubans who risk their lives to escape their country and find refuge on the base. Last year, 14 tried, according to Packard. The last, in December, was a Cuban soldier with a fully loaded AK-47 who made it over the wire and through the minefield. He, like most of the others who try, was quickly repatriated after State Department officials studied the validity of his asylum request and found it lacking.
"Usually they are pretty beat up or cut up by the rocks or the fence by the time they get here," said Capt. Mark Roy, 33, of Denton, Texas, who commands the Marine Reserve company currently assigned to fence-line security.
In the past, active duty Marines guarded the base perimeter. Their forces at one time included artillery and armor units and attack jets in addition to the ground troops. Now, the Marine forces responsible for fence-line patrol are reservists and their numbers have dwindled to about 130, with 50 of them on duty at any one time in 15 observation posts, down from a Cold War high of 45 posts.
Guantanamo, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary as a U.S. base next year, is the oldest American base overseas. The land and access to the bay were originally leased for use as a coaling station for Navy ships. The United States has been able to hold on to it because of a provision in the lease that says it can be terminated only by mutual agreement of both parties.
Relations were relatively good until Castro took over in 1959 after a revolution that ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista.
In 1961, the United States cut diplomatic relations with Cuba, and U.S. Marines and Cuban militia began patrolling opposite sides of the fence. Over the years, they built up their defenses, establishing a no man's land between the two sides that can range from 300 meters to 1,000 meters, according to Packard.
Both sides planted mines outside their fences, although in 1999, acting on an executive order from President Clinton, the Marines dug up theirs. The Cuban mines were distributed haphazardly, however, and there has been no effort to remove them, base officials say. The Cuban mines are also beginning to deteriorate, making them more dangerous.
"They explode all the time," said Packard, either because of age or because an iguana or a banana rat stepped on them.
Thousands of Cubans sought refuge on the base after diplomatic ties were severed, but hundreds more continued to live in Cuba while working on the base. Today, of those hundreds of workers who were grandfathered in through an agreement between the two sides, only 10 remain.
Known as the "Cuban commuters," every morning they pass through the lone gate in the fence and under a sign on the Cuban side that says, in Spanish, "Republic of Cuba: Free Territory of America." The sign, which can also be interpreted to read "Territory Free of America," is a constant dig at the Americans on the other side.
The 10 Cuban commuters, all of them aging, work at nonsecure jobs in the base laundry, garage or in some of the stores.
After Castro cut water and other supplies to the base in 1964, it became self-sufficient, producing its own water through desalinization and bringing in everything else needed for the 2,400 troops stationed at Guantanamo. The base's military population has increased by about 1,700 since the arrival of Joint Task Force 160, which oversees operations involving the captives.
Although the base seems to be something of a Cold War anachronism, it is still seen as useful to American interests, according to Kevin Whitaker, a State Department representative here.
"It's a nice option to have. It gives the decision makers flexibility," said Whitaker. That flexibility includes using it to house Cuban and Haitian boat people in the mid-1990s and now the Taliban and al-Qaida captives, who will be moved into more permanent cells if Congress approves funding.
Lt. Cmdr. Brenden McPherson, a Coast Guard spokesman, said the base also serves a useful purpose for patrol boats trying to interdict drugs and asylum seekers in the eastern Caribbean.
"This is a very, very important base for the Coast Guard," McPherson said.
Its importance now is as the site where those captured in the war against terrorism will be confined and possibly tried. That is significant, according to some legal scholars, because Guantanamo is not U.S. soil and non-citizens tried before military tribunals here could not appeal decisions to federal court.
Officials here say the Cubans have expressed not so much concern about treatment of the captives as curiosity about them. In addition to the inquiries concerning security, Cuban journalists and military personnel have flocked to an officers' club on the Cuban side that overlooks Camp X-Ray.
Their reaction, said Packard, has been much like the relationship between the two military forces. "It's been relatively benign," he said.