Guantánamo Bay

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This article is about the body of water. For the U.S.-operated military prison, see Guantanamo Bay detention camp. For the U.S. Naval base, see Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. For other titular locales and uses, see Guantanamo (disambiguation).
Aerial view of Guantánamo Bay
Aerial view of Guantánamo Bay

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 without the Cuban Government reacting. The current Cuban government considers the U.S. presence in Guantánamo to be 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. 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.[1]

The southern portion of the bay is surrounded by the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, established in 1898. For the past several years the base has hosted a detainment camp for suspected militant combatants from Afghanistan and from around the world, but specifically not for captives taken in Iraq, who qualify for POW status.

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[edit] History

Map of Cuba with location of Guantánamo Bay indicated.
Map of Cuba with location of Guantánamo Bay indicated.
See also: Timeline of Guantánamo Bay

The bay is located in Cuba and was originally named Guantánamo by the Taíno. Christopher Columbus landed at the location known as Fisherman's Point in 1494 naming it Puerto Grande.[2] On landing, Columbus's crew found Taíno fishermen 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 eight warships and 4,000 soldiers with plans to march on Santiago de Cuba but was resisted by local guerrilla forces and withdrew.[2]

During the Spanish-American War, the U.S. fleet attacking Santiago needed shelter from the summer hurricane season; 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 U.S. 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 99-year lease that began on February 23, 1903, from Tomás Estrada Palma, a Cuban-born 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.[3]

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.

A 1934 treaty reaffirming the lease granted Cuba and its trading partners free access through the bay; modified the lease payment from $2,000 in U.S. gold coins per year, to the 1934 equivalent value of $4,085 in U.S. dollars; and made the lease permanent unless both governments agreed to break it, or the U.S. abandoned the base property.[4] Since the Cuban Revolution, the government under Fidel Castro has cashed only one of the rent checks from the U.S. government, and only because of confusion in 1959 in the heady early days of the leftist revolution. The remaining uncashed checks made out to "Treasurer General of the Republic" (a position that ceased to exist after the revolution) are kept in Castro's office stuffed into a desk drawer.[5] The United States argues that the cashing of the single check signifies Havana's ratification of the lease — and that ratification by the new government renders moot any questions about violations of sovereignty and illegal military occupation.[citation needed] It is countered, however, that the 1903 and 1934 lease agreements were imposed on Cuba under duress and are unequal treaties, no longer compatible with modern international law, and voidable ex nunc pursuant to articles 60, 62, and 64 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.[6]

[edit] In Popular Culture

Guantánamo Bay is one of the key locations in Thomas Steadman's "Flames of the West".

The 1992 film A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson as the Guantanamo base commander centers around an incident occurring on the base.

The 2008 film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is about two young men escaping Guantanamo Bay prison after being falsely accused of terrorism.

[edit] See also

Cuba Portal

[edit] Wikisource links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties - May 23rd, 1969 United Nations Treaty Collection, Retrieved on 11 February 2008
  2. ^ a b Gott, Richard Cuba: A new history, Yale University Press: 2004
  3. ^ Olga Miranda Bravo, Vecinos Indeseables: La Base Yanqui en Guantánamo (La Habana: Editorial Ciencias Sociales, 1998)
  4. ^ Destination Guantanamo Bay BBC News, Retrieved on 11 February 2008
  5. ^ Castro: Cuba not cashing U.S. Guantanamo rent checks. Retrieved on 2007-12-07.
  6. ^ The Status of Guantánamo Bay & the status of the Detainees The University of British Columbia - Law, Retrieved on 11 February 2008

[edit] External links

Wikinews
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[edit] Maps and photos