Uruguayan President Urges Former GITMO Prisoners to Look for Jobs

The President of Uruguay Jose Mujica had a meeting with the former prisoners of Guantanamo prison, where he urged those brought to Montevideo under the agreement with the US authorities to study Spanish and get jobs.

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) —The President of Uruguay Jose Mujica has called on the former prisoners of Guantanamo Bay, who were brought to Montevideo under the agreement with the US authorities, to study Spanish and get jobs, El Pais reported Friday.

According to El Pais, Mujica had a meeting with the former prisoners in Friday. The ex-detainees thanked Mujica for the efforts he made to free them.

“He [Mujica] said that they definitely need to learn Spanish language and try to begin working as soon as possible,” one of the meeting’s participants told the newspaper.

In 2014, the governments of Uruguay and the United States agreed on the transfer of six Guantanamo prisoners. After the detainees' arrival, President Mujica said he will not preclude them from going abroad.

According to the Uruguayan Busqueda newspaper, ever since coming to Uruguay the ex-prisoners did not accept a single job offer and most of them had quit their Spanish studies.

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp was established in 2002 in Cuba, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Ever since, the military prison was subject of criticism by human rights advocates, as former detainees described the inhumane conditions of their imprisonment, including use of torture.