In 1534, Spanish officials urged the Crown to garrison Mona Island as La llave de las Indias — the key to the Indies. Madrid refused, allowing French corsairs to exploit the unprotected mesa and repeatedly sack San German.

Centuries later, German submarine U-156 shelled Camp Cofresi, treating a civilian camp as a military target. Eventually, Washington leased Mona to the Air Force but ultimately walked away, leaving a strategic vacuum for smugglers to inherit.