 American activists camping out at a Cuban military checkpoint outside the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay started their first day of a water-only fast Monday to protest the treatment of suspected terrorists detained at the base. Members of the largely Christian group Witness Against Torture are demanding access to the prisoner camp to meet with inmates. The activists arrived late Sunday at the checkpoint, which is about five miles from the U.S. base, after a five-day march from the eastern Cuban city of Santiago. "We can see the windmills of the U.S. base, we can see some lights off in the distance," Frida Berrigan, 31, said on her cell phone. "We're not right next door, but we are closer to these prisoners than their family members have been since they were arrested."
| That does 'em a lot of good, doesn't it? |
Berrigan is the daughter of the late Phil Berrigan, a former Roman Catholic priest whose protests against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons helped ignite a generation of anti-war dissent.
| I remember him. He was a priest, but he shacked up with a nun who was similarly goofy and begat Frida, and then God struck him dead. |
Stacey Byington, a civilian spokeswoman for U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, said those inside the facility could not see the protesters and only knew of their presence through media reports. |