Mujica: Promises made to US don't apply to Uruguay; Guantanamo detainees could travel freely

[Judi Lynn]

Mujica: Promises made to US don't apply to Uruguay; Guantanamo detainees could travel freely
By The Associated Press March 24, 2014 3:42 PM

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Uruguay's president says any Guantanamo detainees his country takes will be treated as refugees and will be free to travel wherever they wish, even if they have promised the United States that they'll stay in the South American country for at least two years.

Jose Mujica described ongoing talks with the U.S. government in a Monday interview with El Espectador radio. He says Uruguay has tentatively agreed to take four Syrians and a Palestinian who have been held at the military detention centre in the U.S.-held corner of Cuba.

Mujica denied that the five are dangerous and said that "in no way" would Uruguay prevent them from travelling.

He also says he probably won't attend a May 12 meeting in Washington with President Barack Obama, citing political campaigns in Uruguay.

http://www.canada.com/news/Mujica+Promises+made+dont+apply+Uruguay+Guantanamo+detainees+could/9655124/story.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. These are the 5 Guantanamo detainees who might be moving to Uruguay

Will Carless
Follow @willcarless
March 28, 2014 01:49

These are the 5 Guantanamo detainees who might be moving to Uruguay

Who are the Gitmo prisoners set for release? It's still unconfirmed, but when President Mujica mentioned their nationalities, he left little room for doubt.


MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — President Jose Mujica has stunned residents here by accepting a deal proposed by the United States to give refuge to five prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. Since Mujica’s sudden announcement last week, there’s been some confusion about what’s happening with the prisoners.

Mujica told local reporters March 21 he would ask the US government to free Cuban political prisoners in exchange for Uruguay accepting the Guantanamo detainees. But the US ambassador to Montevideo said the two governments have yet to reach an agreement — and she dismissed the idea of an exchange outright.

“There is no exchange arrangement of any kind,” Ambassador Julissa Reynoso told local media. “The proposal is a humanitarian act to be able to manage the transfer of these individuals to different parts of the world, without conditions.”

Mujica has also since said the released prisoners would be free to travel onward from Uruguay, raising further questions about how such a deal will be crafted.

More:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/140327/guantanamo-detainees-transferred-uruguay