In February 1964, Cuban national Noel West was working as a clerk on the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay when he chose to stay in his barracks and watch a baseball game instead of returning to his home on the Cuban side of the fence.
Little did he know that decision would save his life.
The next day, he learnt Fidel Castro’s soldiers were hunting him.
“My next door neighbour who lived on the Cuban side called me and he asked me if I had gone out the night before. I said, ‘No, why?’” recalled Mr West.
“He said, ‘Well, there were about eight soldiers looking for you.’”
At first, Mr West couldn’t understand why Castro’s men wanted him, but he soon realised that a close friend had sold him out to the nascent communist regime after a casual conversation they had days before.
“We started talking, and he said, ‘Well what do you think about the situation in Cuba now?’ I said ‘Well, I mean, there’s nothing to eat, there’s no jobs, looks like communism is going to take over,’ and, well, I didn’t have anything good at all to say,” said Mr West, who was 32 years old at the time.
That conversation would define the rest of his life. Unable to return home, he was granted permission from the US government to live in an enclave of the naval station until it was safe.
Mr West, now 88, has not set foot in Cuba since and doesn’t believe he will ever be able to return.
The Guantanamo Bay base, which after the September 11 terror attacks became notorious for housing detainees in America’s war on terror, was the first naval station established outside of the US.
It is a spoil of the Spanish-American War, when Cuban and American forces wrestled the strategically located bay from Spanish control, helping pave the way for crucial victories later in the conflict.
Since 1903, the US has leased the land from Cuba. The original lease cost $2,000 per year. Since the mid-1970s, the US has paid Cuba $4,085 for the land, though the Castros never actually spent the money.
In the early 1960s, following the Cuban Revolution in which Castro clawed his way to power and established a communist government, some 350 Cubans escaped to the US base at the south-eastern tip of the island.
Some of the Cuban exiles moved to the US, but a small cohort, including Mr West, stayed at the base and made a life for themselves on their native soil under the protection of the US government.
Today, there are only 19 Cuban exiles, known as Special Category Residents, left on the base.
The base provides health care to the ageing community, whose youngest member is now 78 and the oldest is 92.
The US government has even built a home health facility for those unable to live alone.
Mr West lives in a low-slung, mid-century home across the street from the Cuban Community Centre in one of several residential compounds on the base.
His house is filled with Christmas ornaments - an ode to his first name, Noel - which can be seen alongside pictures and other memorabilia of a life spent in service to the base.
On a mantle in his living room sits a plaque commemorating Mr West’s 55 years of service.
For five and half decades, he worked as a clerk on the base, primarily in charge of ordering fuel for private vehicles. He retired in 2011.
In his spare time, he played baseball and umpired games for American soldiers and other people living on the base.
Eventually, he obtained US citizenship, and though he’s travelled to the US many times and has a son who lives in Florida, he prefers life on the island of his birth.
Gregarious and light-hearted, Mr West jokes he would not make a movie out of his life, but he acknowledges he is part of a little known quirk of history.
Mr West now spends his retirement reading up on events in Cuba on the large computer monitor in his living room.
Nearly 60 years after he last stepped foot in Cuba proper, he still thinks about his community and what life would have been like if he had returned home that night all those years ago.
But he has no regrets over how his life has turned out.
“The thing that I miss about not living there is some of the people that I made friends with that I miss, the opportunity to sit and talk to them.”
F1 drivers' standings
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 56
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: Hyundai Ionic Hybrid
Price, base: Dh117,000 (estimate)
Engine: 1.6L four-cylinder, with 1.56kWh battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 105hp (engine), plus 43.5hp (battery)
Torque: 147Nm (engine), plus 170Nm (battery)
Fuel economy, combined: 3.4L / 100km
The years Ramadan fell in May
The five pillars of Islam
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo (Kick-off midnight UAE)
Saturday Levante v Getafe (5pm), Sevilla v Real Madrid (7.15pm), Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid (9.30pm), Cadiz v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday Granada v Huesca (5pm), Osasuna v Real Betis (7.15pm), Villarreal v Elche (9.30pm), Alaves v Real Sociedad (midnight)
Monday Eibar v Valencia (midnight)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
More from Neighbourhood Watch
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
MATCH INFO
Pakistan 106-8 (20 ovs)
Iftikhar 45, Richardson 3-18
Australia 109-0 (11.5 ovs)
Warner 48 no, Finch 52 no
Australia win series 2-0
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The years Ramadan fell in May
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Tori Amos
Native Invader
Decca
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Dir: Ron Howard
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson
3/5
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Most match wins on clay
Guillermo Vilas - 659
Manuel Orantes - 501
Thomas Muster - 422
Rafael Nadal - 399 *
Jose Higueras - 378
Eddie Dibbs - 370
Ilie Nastase - 338
Carlos Moya - 337
Ivan Lendl - 329
Andres Gomez - 322
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES
Mar 10: Norwich(A)
Mar 13: Newcastle(H)
Mar 16: Lille(A)
Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)
Apr 2: Brentford(H)
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Brief scores:
Day 2
England: 277 & 19-0
West Indies: 154
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Scorebox
Sharjah Wanderers 20-25 Dubai Tigers (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries Gormley, Penalty
Cons Flaherty
Pens Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons Caldwell 2
Pens Caldwell, Cross
More on Quran memorisation:
