Guantanamo Bay Naval Base geography of Windward Point is such that there are many coves and peninsulas along the bay shoreline providing ideal areas for mooring ships. "Cactus Curtain" is a term describing the line separating the naval base from Cuban-controlled territory. After the Cuban Revolution, some Cubans sought refuge on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. In the fall of 1961, Cuban troops planted an barrier of "Opuntia" cactus along the northeastern section of the fence surrounding the base to stop Cubans from escaping Cuba to take refuge in the United States. This was dubbed the "Cactus Curtain", an allusion to Europe's Iron Curtain,
Cuban refugees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base refugees occasionally slip into the camp to this day. According to a February 6, 2012 report from "Agence France Presse", ten political dissidents slipped into the base in November 2011. Cuban refugees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Over the years a varying number of Cuban refugees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base have found refuge there. In the 1990s several thousand refugees were held at the base for years. Most of the refugees were housed in a tent city on the re-purposed airstrip that would later be used to house the complex used for the Guantanamo military commissions. The