Abstract
Guantanamo: the consonance sounds sweet, but the word rimes with a much darker reality. Here is one of the burning issues Obama will have to tackle quickly in order to keep his current aura alive. Located in the South East Cuba, the Guantanamo detention camp is a perpetually polemic subject, strongly affecting the image of the US all around the world. The camp of Guantanamo Bay existed before 9/11 attacks, but Bush Jr's War on terror led to the conversion of the naval basis into a high secured detention camp, which hosted about 800 detainees between 2001 and 2008. The camp is subject to different scandals, notably concerning suicides and torture practices since its opening. The United States of America has invited the disapproval of the whole international community, which denounces the abuses committed in the camp. Thus, whereas this camp appeared as a solution to the Americans in order to improve their data base on the struggle against terrorist movements, it appears today as a burden. Bush talked about closing the camp in 2006, and Obama renewed this promise in November, 2008.
