*The yearly checks now total around $4,000, though under Fidel Castro the Cuban government stopped cashing them. For years they apparently went directly into Castro’s desk.

 

*Although officials did not publicize the fact, bases had detailed evacuation plans for families. They were never used in Europe but were employed in South Korea, South Vietnam, and Guantánamo Bay.

 

*One origin story dates the Camorra to 1825 and men imprisoned, ironically enough, in a military base—Naples’s Castel Nuovo.

 

*Later, Luciano claimed he was responsible for the arson that triggered the military’s concern about sabotage in New York Harbor in the first place. If true, it would be “classic Mafia style,” as historian Salvatore Lupo says: “Threat and protection from the same source!”

 

*The one clear exception is Guantánamo Bay, where the local economic impact is almost entirely negative. The base is entirely self-sufficient, and there is no economic activity connecting the base and Guantánamo city or other surrounding communities.