Hay-Quesada Treaty

The Hay-Quesada Treaty is the agreement reached between the governments of Cuba and the United States, which was finalized in 1925. In it, the US recognized the Cuban sovereignty over the territory of the Isle of Pines off the southern coast of Cuba, which is today known as the Island of Youth (sp: Isla de la Juventud).

On February 21, 1901, the first Constitution of the Republic of Cuba was approved. Despite being quite advanced for its time, the Constitution contained the Platt Amendment (repealed in 1934), which limited the sovereignty of the country. In addition, it did not mention the Isle of Pines as part of the national territory. For this reason, the government of the United States claimed this territory.[1]

In 1903 Gonzalo de Quesada, Cuban ambassador in Washington, was able to convince the American government that the island had been part of the Cuban territory since 1511, and on March 2, 1904 he signed the treaty.[2] It was not ratified by the US at that time.

In 1907, the US Supreme Court ruled in Pearcy v. Stranahan that the courts could not decide the ownership of a territory, but that it is a political decision.[3] This ultimately lead 18 years later to the treaty being ratified by the United States Senate on March 13, 1925.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p195 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. ↑ Spencer Tucker, ed. (2009). "Quesada y Arostegui, Gonzalo de". The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American ..., Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 525. ISBN 1851099514.
  3. ↑ Percy v. Stranahan, 205 U.S. 257 (1907).
  4. ↑ McManus, Jane (2000). Cuba's Island of Dreams: Voices from the Isle of Pines and Youth. University Press of Florida. p. 39. ISBN 0813017416.

References