Caimanera is a municipality and town in Guantánamo Province on the south eastern coast of Cuba . It is a fishing village and port built on the west shore of the sheltered Guantánamo Bay , just north of the US naval base and 34 kilometres (21 mi) south of the provincial capital, Guantánamo .
31-414: The town was named for the caiman alligators which were once common in the river and in the mangrove labyrinths of the upper Bay, but which have since declined in numbers. The community of fishermen and salt mine workers flourished at the beginning of the 20th century precisely because of the base's construction. It was a magnet for Cuban workers and a popular spot for visitors, including Cubans from across
62-431: A different vowel), and to-, tu- 'her'. Recorded conjugated verbs include daka ("I am"), waibá ("we go" or "let us go"), warikẽ ("we see"), kãma ("hear", imperative), ahiyakawo ("speak to us") and makabuka ("it is not important"). Verb-designating affixes were a-, ka-, -a, -ka, -nV in which "V" was an unknown or changeable vowel. This suggests that, like many other Arawakan languages, verbal conjugation for
93-400: A fairly nocturnal existence. They are relatively small-sized crocodilians with an average maximum weight of 6 to 40 kg (13 to 88 lb) depending on species, with the exception of the black caiman ( Melanosuchus niger ), which can grow more than 4 m (13 ft) in length and weigh in excess of 450 kg (1,000 Ib). The black caiman is the largest caiman species in the world and
124-407: A few defining features: a lack of a bony septum between the nostrils, ventral armor composed of overlapping bony scutes formed from two parts united by a suture, and longer and sharper teeth than alligators, plus caimans tend to be more agile and crocodile-like in their movements. The calcium rivets on caiman scales make their hides stiffer. Several extinct forms are known, including Purussaurus ,
155-446: A giant Miocene genus that grew to 12 m (39 ft) and the equally large Mourasuchus , which had a wide duck -like snout. Caimans are predators and, like alligators and crocodiles, their diet largely consists of fish. Caimans also hunt insects, birds, small mammals and reptiles. Due to their large size and ferocious nature, caimans have few natural predators within their environments. Humans are their main predators, because
186-441: A lack of food. [1] [2] With train service to Guantanamo shut down for lack of fuel, and no fuel for trucks to deliver food, local stores were empty. Many residents lacked transportation to travel the 34 km to Guantanamo to buy food. Videos posted on social media showed hundreds of residents protesting in the streets, and then police and soldiers beating the protestors, including women and children. The Cuban government shut down
217-487: A lack of fuel. Caiman A caiman ( / ˈ k eɪ m ə n / (also spelled cayman ) from Taíno kaiman ) is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae , one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family , the other being alligators . Caimans are native to Central and South America and inhabit marshes , swamps , lakes , and mangrove rivers. They have scaly skin and live
248-419: A large nest in which to lay their eggs. The nests can be more than 1.5 m (4.9 ft) wide. Female caimans lay between 10 and 50 eggs, which hatch within about six weeks. Once they have hatched, the mother caiman takes her young to a shallow pool of water, where they can learn how to hunt and swim. The juveniles of spectacled caiman have been shown to stay together in pods for up to 18 months. Caimaninae
279-489: A raging fire that destroyed three city blocks. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 marked strained relations between Cuba and America, in general, and specifically between the inhabitants of Caimanera and the nearby Guantanamo Bay Naval Base . Prior to the revolution, off-duty US personnel from the base were free to visit Caimanera, and the town was home to many bars and bordellos that catered to them. The base employed over three thousand Cuban workers. Cuban contractors, who employed
310-540: A subject resembled the possessive prefixes on nouns. The negating prefix was ma- and the attributive prefix was ka- . Hence makabuka meant "it is not important". The buka element has been compared to the Kalinago suffix -bouca which designates the past tense. Hence, makabuka can be interpreted as meaning "it has no past". However, the word can also be compared to the Kalinago verb aboúcacha meaning "to scare". This verb
341-485: Is cladistically defined as Caiman crocodylus (the spectacled caiman ) and all species closer to it than to Alligator mississippiensis (the American alligator ). This is a stem-based definition for caimaninae, and means that it includes more basal extinct caimanine ancestors that are more closely related to living caimans than to alligators . The clade Jacarea includes the most derived caimans, being defined as
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#1732854737128372-743: Is an alternative cladogram from Bona et al. 2018. Alligatorinae ( stem-based group ) Stangerochampsa † Albertochampsa † Brachychampsa † Protocaiman † Gnatusuchus † Globidentosuchus † Eocaiman † Notocaiman † Kuttanacaiman † Purussaurus † Mourasuchus † Necrosuchus † Tsoabichi † Paleosuchus trigonatus Smooth-fronted caiman Paleosuchus palpebrosus Cuvier's dwarf caiman Centenariosuchus † Caiman latirostris Broad-snouted caiman Melanosuchus niger Black caiman Caiman yacare Yacare caiman Caiman crocodilus Spectacled caiman Ta%C3%ADno language Taíno
403-784: Is an extinct Arawakan language that was spoken by the Taíno people of the Caribbean . At the time of Spanish contact , it was the most common language throughout the Caribbean. Classic Taíno (Taíno proper) was the native language of the Taíno tribes living in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles , Puerto Rico , the Turks and Caicos Islands , most of Hispaniola , and eastern Cuba . The Ciboney dialect
434-456: Is believed to have been extinct within 100 years of contact, but possibly continued to be spoken in isolated pockets in the Caribbean until the 19th century. As the first Indigenous language encountered by Europeans in the Americas, it was a major source of new words borrowed into European languages. Granberry & Vescelius (2004) distinguish two dialects, one on Hispaniola and further east, and
465-570: Is essentially unattested, but colonial sources suggest it was very similar to Classic Taíno, and was spoken in the westernmost areas of Hispaniola, the Bahamas , Jamaica , and most of Cuba . By the late 15th century, Taíno had displaced earlier languages, except in western Cuba and pockets in Hispaniola. As the Taíno culture declined during Spanish colonization, the language was replaced by Spanish and other European languages, such as English and French. It
496-614: Is found in the slow-moving rivers and lakes that surround the Amazon basin. The smallest species is the Cuvier's dwarf caiman ( Paleosuchus palpebrosus ), which grows to 1.2 to 1.5 m (3.9 to 4.9 ft) long. There are six different species of caiman found throughout the watery jungle habitats of Central and Southern America. The average length for most of the other caiman species is about 2 to 2.5 m (6.6 to 8.2 ft) long. Caimans are distinguished from alligators, their closest relatives, by
527-452: Is no longer part of the economy because the fish are in the lower part of the bay, in the territory of the naval base. Linked to Guantánamo by the "Carretera a Caimanera" road, the municipal territory of Caimanera is located close to the " Carretera Central ". The town counts also a terminal station on a minor railway line to Guantánamo. The train stopped running during the COVID pandemic due to
558-1155: Is shared in various Caribbean Arawakan languages such as Lokono ( bokaüya 'to scare, frighten') and Parauhano ( apüüta 'to scare'). In this case makabuka would mean "it does not frighten [me]". Masculine gender was indicated by the noun suffix -(e)l . There is no known corresponding feminine suffix. Taíno borrowed words from Spanish, adapting them to its phonology. These include isúbara ("sword", from espada ), isíbuse ("mirror", from espejo ) and Dios ( God in Christianity , from Dios ). English words derived from Taíno include: barbecue , caiman , canoe , cassava , cay , guava , hammock , hurricane , hutia , iguana , macana , maize , manatee , mangrove , maroon , potato , savanna , and tobacco . Taíno loanwords in Spanish include: agutí , ají , auyama , batata , cacique , caoba , guanabana , guaraguao , jaiba , loro , maní , maguey (also rendered magüey ), múcaro , nigua , querequequé , tiburón , and tuna , as well as
589-457: The Internet nationwide for 24 hours and used a radio jammer to stop residents of Caimanera from using T-Mobile wireless Internet service. Caimanera borders with the municipalities of Niceto Pérez , Guantánamo , Manuel Tames and San Antonio del Sur . Its territory includes the villages of Boquerón (also known as "Mártires de la Frontera"), Cayamo and Mata Abajo . Residents of this town are
620-466: The animals have been hunted for their meat and skin. Jaguars , anacondas and crocodiles are the only other predators of caimans, although they usually prey on the smaller specimens or specific species of caiman such as the Spectacled Caiman and Yacare caiman . During summer or droughts, caimans may dig a burrow and go into a form of summer hibernation called aestivation . Female caimans build
651-489: The beginning of a word and the /ɾ/ realization occurred between vowels. Some Spanish writers used the letter ⟨x⟩ in their transcriptions, which could represent /h/ , /s/ or /ʃ/ in the Spanish orthography of their day. A distinction between /ɛ/ and /e/ is suggested by Spanish transcriptions of e vs ei/ey , as in ceiba "ceiba". The /e/ is written ei or final é in modern reconstructions. There
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#1732854737128682-498: The closest Cuban neighbours to the US naval base . The North East Gate, located near Boquerón, is the only US -Cuban border crossing point. Due to its proximity to the US Base, Caimanera is a forbidden town ( zona militar ), needing a special permission from the government to visit it. Upper Guantanamo Bay is one of Cuba's bahias bolsas or pocket bays, with a narrow neck between the bay and
713-466: The island and people from nearby countries such as Jamaica . Caimanera was liberated on December 19, 1958. On this anniversary the town usually has a parade and a political action. The Havana Times reports that in 1959, not long after the Cuban Revolution drove out the pro-American Batista administration, two US Navy tugboats came to Caimanera to apply their powerful water-cannons to put out
744-1012: The last common ancestor of Caiman latirostris (Broad-snouted caiman), Caiman crocodilus (Spectacled caiman), Caiman yacare (Yacare caiman), Melanosuchus niger (Black caiman), and all its descendants. Below is a cladogram showing the phylogeny of Caimaninae, modified from Hastings et al. (2013). † Stangerochampsa mccabei † Brachychampsa montana † Brachychampsa sealeyi Alligatorinae † Culebrasuchus mesoamericanus † Eocaiman cavernensis † Tsoabichi greenriverensis Paleosuchus palpebrosus Cuvier's dwarf caiman Paleosuchus trigonatus Smooth-fronted caiman † Centenariosuchus gilmorei † Purussaurus neivensis † Mourasuchus spp. † Orthogenysuchus olseni Caiman crocodilus Spectacled caiman Caiman yacare Yacare caiman Caiman latirostris Broad-snouted caiman † Caiman lutescens † Melanosuchus fisheri Melanosuchus niger Black caiman Here
775-577: The masculine gender, as in warokoel "our grandfather". Some words are recorded as ending in x , which may have represented a word-final /h/ sound. In general, stress was predictable and fell on the penultimate syllable of a word, unless the word ended in /e/ , /i/ or a nasal vowel, in which case it fell on the final syllable. Taíno is not well attested. However, from what can be gathered, nouns appear to have had noun-class suffixes, as in other Arawakan languages. Attested Taíno possessive prefixes are da- 'my', wa- 'our', li- 'his' (sometimes with
806-498: The other on Hispaniola and further west. Columbus wrote that "...from Bahama to Cuba, Boriquen to Jamaica, the same language was spoken in various slight dialects, but understood by all." The Taíno language was not written. The Taínos used petroglyphs , but there has been little research in the area. The following phonemes are reconstructed from Spanish records: There was also a flap [ ɾ ] , which appears to have been an allophone of /d/ . The /d/ realization occurred at
837-426: The previous English words in their Spanish form: barbacoa , caimán , canoa, casabe , cayo, guayaba, hamaca, huracán, iguana, jutía, macana , maíz, manatí, manglar, cimarrón, patata, sabana, and tabaco . Place names of Taíno origin include: Six sentences of spoken Taíno were preserved. They are presented first in the original orthography in which they were recorded, then in a regularized orthography based on
868-422: The reconstructed language and lastly in their English translation: Since the 2010s, there have been several publications that attempt at reconstructing modern Taíno lexicons by way of comparative linguistics with other related Arawak languages. Puertorican linguist Javier Hernandez published his Primario Basíco del Taíno-Borikenaíki in 2018 after a 16-year spanning research project with positive reception among
899-591: The sea. Caimanera is located on the narrow neck between the upper and lower bays. Caimanera is within range of the T-Mobile towers at the naval base and so is the only town in Cuba with American cellphone and Internet service. Residents can get 4G service. In 2022, the municipality of Caimanera had a population of 11,273. With a total area of 366 km (141 sq mi), it has a population density of 28.9/km (75/sq mi). Ships chiefly export sugarcane and coffee. Fishing
930-468: The workers, whisked them to their jobs on the base in speed-boats. After the revolution, both sides made policy changes. Cuba allowed workers to continue to work on the base, but they had to walk to the remote North-East Gate . The USA would continue to employ those Cubans who already had jobs, but would not hire any new Cuban workers. The number of Cuban workers dwindled, with the last two retiring in 2012. On May 7, 2023, residents of Caimanera protested
961-408: Was also a high back vowel [u] , which was often interchangeable with /o/ and may have been an allophone. There was a parallel set of nasal vowels . The nasal vowels /ĩ/ and /ũ/ were rare. Consonant clusters were not permitted in the onset of syllables. The only consonant permitted at the end of a syllable or word in most cases was /s/ . One exception was the suffix -(e)l , which indicated