To celebrate 50 years of independence from Britain, the kingdom of Swaziland changed its name to Eswatini in 2018. I had to look up the tiny nation on a map to find it was landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique. This houses America’s newest version of Guantanamo Bay – but it’s a detention camp for deportees, not terrorists.

The New York Times Magazine has just published a chilling article about the fate of an inmate: “He was Deported to a Country He’d Never Heard Of. He May Never Go Free.” This tells the terrifying, Kafkaesque story of Roberto Mosquera, a Cuban who was forced onto a military cargo plane in Texas and deposited in a maximum security prison in Eswatini last year.

Mosquera arrived in the US aged 12 from Cuba. As a teenager, he joined a gang and served time for attempted murder after shooting a rival gangster in the leg. At this point, I can feel your sympathy waver. But on his release, he settled down, became a plumber, married, had four daughters – and led a normal life as long as he checked in with US immigration authorities every year. He is now 59.

In June 2025, Mosquera went to renew his visa, as usual, and was transported to Eswatini. Cuba will not........

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