Guantánamo Bay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the body of water. For U.S. Naval base, see Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. For other titular locales and uses, see Guantanamo (disambiguation).

Map of Cuba with location of Guantánamo Bay indicated.

Aerial view of Guantánamo Bay

Satellite view of Guantánamo Bay

Map of Guantánamo Bay showing approximate U.S. Naval Boundaries.

Guantánamo Bay (Spanish: Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay located in Guantánamo Province at the south-eastern end of Cuba (19°54′N 75°9′W). It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and is surrounded by steep hills creating an enclave cut off from its immediate hinterland.

The United States assumed territorial control over Guantánamo Bay under the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty, which granted the United States a perpetual lease of the area. The current Cuban government considers the U.S. presence in Guantánamo illegal, arguing that the Cuban-American Treaty violates article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which declares a treaty void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of international law.^[1] However, Article 4 of the same document states that Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties shall not be retroactively applied to any treaties made before itself.^[2]

The southern portion of the bay is surrounded by the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, a naval base established in 1898. Recently, the base began hosting a detainment camp for suspected militant combatants from both Afghanistan and Iraq, or from previously secret prisons in Europe that were revealed in 2006.

1 History
2 See also
3 Wikisource links
4 References
5 External links
- 5.1 Maps and photos

[edit] History

See also Timeline of Guantánamo Bay

The bay was originally named Guantánamo by the Taíno. Christopher Columbus landed at the location known as Fisherman's Point in 1494 naming it Puerto Grande.^[3] On landing Columbus's crew found Taíno fisherman preparing a feast for the local chieftain. When Spanish settlers took control of the island the bay became a vital harbor on the south side of the island. The bay was briefly renamed Cumberland bay when the British seized it in 1741 during the War of Jenkins' Ear. British Admiral Edward Vernon arrived with a force of 8 warships and 4,000 soldiers with plans to march on Santiago de Cuba but were resisted by local guerrilla forces and withdrew.^[3]

During the Spanish-American War the U.S. fleet attacking Santiago needed shelter from the summer hurricane season. Thus Guantánamo with its excellent harbor was chosen for this purpose. The Marines landed successfully with naval support; however, as they went inland Spanish resistance increased to the point at which Cuban scouts were needed to assist the United States Marines.

The US Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, sometimes called "GTMO" or "Gitmo", covers 116 km² (about 45 square miles) on the western and eastern banks of the bay. It was established in 1898, when the United States obtained control of Cuba from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American War, following the 1898 invasion of Guantánamo Bay. The U.S. government obtained a perpetual lease that began on February 23, 1903, from Tomás Estrada Palma, an American citizen, who became the first President of Cuba. The newly formed American protectorate incorporated the Platt Amendment in the Cuban Constitution. The Cuban-American Treaty held, among other things, that the United States, for the purposes of operating coaling and naval stations, has "complete jurisdiction and control" of the Guantánamo Bay, while the Republic of Cuba is recognized to retain ultimate sovereignty.

After the Cuban Revolution of 1959 which brought Fidel Castro to power, then-President Dwight Eisenhower insisted the status of the base remained unchanged, despite Cuban objections.

Washington still pays the rent, set a century ago at 2,000 gold coins a year and now worth just over $4,000, even though the Cuban government refuses to cash the checks.