Cuba calls US nuclear submarine in Guantanamo Bay 'provocative escalation'

Cuban authorities on Tuesday said the US recently had a nuclear-powered submarine at its military base at Guantanamo Bay and called the action a "provocative escalation" of tensions weeks after Washington alleged that there was a Chinese spy base on the island, Report informs via Reuters.

"The presence of a nuclear submarine there at this moment makes it imperative to wonder what is the military reason behind this action in this peaceful region of the world," Cuba's foreign ministry said in a statement. Washington did not confirm that there was a submarine at the naval base.

The ministry did not specify whether the submarine was armed. It said it was at the base from July 5 to July 8.

The US State Department declined to give information about movements of military assets. It said Cuba was looking to distract from the two-year anniversary of largest street protests seen in Cuba since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Cuba had accused the US of inciting that unrest.

Cuba has long called for the US to close its 121-year-old naval base on the eastern part of the island, along with the military prison Washington established there in 2002.

Critics have said the Guantanamo Bay prison has been used for arbitrary detention and torture of people suspected of terrorism.

In June, Havana and Beijing rejected reports citing US officials alleging that China was using Cuba as a spy base. The United States has presented no evidence of such a base.

Tuesday's ministry statement warned of the dangers of circulating nuclear submarines and armed forces across the Caribbean, adding that a history of US military bases across the region threatened its peoples' sovereignty.

The ministry also reiterated calls for the United States to end its military presence on the island, saying this served only to "outrage Cuba's sovereign rights" and carry out acts of detention, torture and the systemic violation of human rights.