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,
Guantanamo Bay detention camp consisted of Camp Delta including Camp Echo, Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray, which is now closed. After Bush political appointees at the U.S. Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice advised the Bush administration that the Guantanamo Bay detention camp could be considered outside U.S. legal jurisdiction, military guards took the first twenty detainees to Camp X-Ray on 11 January 2002. The Bush administration asserted that detainees were not entitled to any of the protections of the Geneva Conventions. Ensuing U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 2004 have determined otherwise and that the courts have jurisdiction: it ruled in "Hamdan v.