ISSUES and IDEAS

Guantánamo in pop culture

Fed by the Internet, the phenomenon has spread across the planet with blinding speed, transforming a place into an icon, perhaps like never before. Not Nuremberg. Not Pearl Harbor. Not the Watergate.

An Arts Sampler on Guantanamo

It's in books, films and poetry -- on the stage and in art installations

IN THE PRISON CAMPS

Captive commits suicide in cell

Almost a year after three captives at Guantánamo Bay hanged themselves, a Saudi man was found dead in his cell. U.S. authorities said it was suicide.

ISSUES and IDEAS

Leaving Guantanamo

As first prison camps admiral departs the Pentagon's showcase detention and interrogation center, he tells The Miami Herald: "The detainees ought to have the opportunity to visit with lawyers."

IN THE PRISON CAMPS

Terror inmates endure solitary routine

With most detainees living in windowless, steel and cement cells, life at the prison camps at Guantánamo has turned into a lockdown routine.

Base readies for refugees

The Bush administration is preparing the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to house up to 10,000 refugees in case of a Caribbean migrant crisis -- and starting with the bathrooms.

ISSUES and IDEAS

Detainees: Putting faces to the story

With tales and snapshots gathered by lawyers, a Houston exhibit shows a personal side of detainees.

'I'm responsible for 9/11'

The man allegedly behind the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, confessed to a global string of terror plots -- some carried out, most not -- in a transcript released by the Pentagon.

ISSUES and IDEAS

Inside the Razor Wire

An editor, a lawyer, a broadcast executive, and an entrepreneur visited the remote prison camps as guests of the U.S. Southern Command to spread greater understanding of what goes on in this mystique-shrouded facility.

Plans to build courthouse at Guantánamo Bay revised

Faced with mounting criticism, the Defense Department shelved a plan to make an end-run around Congress and build a military compound at Guantánamo

Fast funding sought for terror-trial site

Citing emergency authority, the Defense Department requested funds to build a war-crimes court compound at Guantánamo Bay

MIAMI HERALD EXCLUSIVE

Pentagon wants to build mini-city for terror trials

The Pentagon wants to build a compound costing up to $125 million for upcoming war crimes trials at Guantánamo. The proposal has yet to be presented to Congress, which must OK funding.

What's a bored detainee to do? Check a book out of the library

A library in a drab double-wide is among the perks U.S. military officials promote as they seek to put a friendlier face on the controversial camp.

Red Cross meets Khalid Sheik Mohammed, others

The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed today that it has met the 14 so-called ''high-value'' detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, who include alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

Autopsies complete, analysis underway

Military pathologists completed clinical autopsies of the three captives who hanged themselves over the weekend inside their cells at this offshore detention center

Suicides another blow to camp's image

For the first time since the Guantánamo Bay prison camp opened in January 2002, three captives killed themselves.

AT THE BASE

Stadium-style lights to boost security

The last official Cold War corner of Latin America is fending off potential incursion with fewer than 125 Marines - and $2.47 million in stadium-style lighting.

ISSUES and IDEAS

We Need Guantánamo

And facilities like it, says the new commander, reflecting on some of his challenges

Guards quell captives' uprising

The Miami Herald was given exclusive access to the U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo, where commanders described an outbreak of violence. The uprising swept through two camps after two captives attempted suicide by drug overdose.

From raft to U.S. Navy, camp tour is round trip

A sailor serving a tour in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, returned to the area a decade after he fled his native Cuba in a raft and was sent to the tent camps set up at the base.