Guantánamo Bay (Spanish:Bahía de Guantánamo,[baˈiaðeɣwãnˈtanamo]) is a bay inGuantánamo Province at the southeastern end ofCuba. It is the largestharbor on the south side of the island and it is surrounded by steep hills which create an enclave that is cut off from its immediatehinterland.
TheUnited States assumed territorial control over the southern portion of Guantánamo Bay under the1903 Lease.[1] The United States exercises jurisdiction and control over this territory as the home of theGuantanamo Bay Naval Base, while recognizing that Cuba retains ultimatesovereignty.[2][3]
Guantánamo Bay has ahot semi-arid climate according to theKöppen climate classification, with high temperatures throughout the year. Rainfall is rather low, and it is one of the driest regions in Cuba.
The United States first seized Guantánamo Bay and established a naval base there in 1898 during theSpanish–American War in theBattle of Guantánamo Bay.[5]: 160–163 In 1903, the United States and Cuba signed a lease granting the United States permission to use the land as a coaling and naval station. The lease satisfied thePlatt Amendment, passed by theUnited States Congress, which stated that a naval base at "certain specific points agreed upon by the President of the United States" was needed to "enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba."[citation needed]
The original inhabitants of the bay, theTaínos, called itGuantánamo.Christopher Columbus landed in 1494, naming itPuerto Grande.[6][page needed] On landing, Columbus' crew found Taíno fishermen preparing a feast for the local chieftain. WhenSpanish settlers took control of Cuba, the bay became a vital harbor on the island's south side.[citation needed]
The bay was briefly renamed as "Cumberland Bay" when aBritish expeditionary force captured it in 1741 during theWar of Jenkins' Ear. British Admiral,Edward Vernon, arrived with a force of eight warships and 4,000 soldiers with plans to march onSantiago de Cuba. However, local Spanish colonial troops defeated him and forced him to withdraw or face becoming aprisoner.[6][page needed] In late 1760, twoRoyal Navyfrigates,HMS Trent andHMSBoreascut out the FrenchprivateersVainquer andMackau, which were hiding in the bay. The French were also forced to burn theGuespe, another privateer, to prevent her capture.[citation needed]
During theSpanish–American War of 1898, theU.S. Navy fleet attacking Santiago needed shelter from the summer hurricane season. They chose Guantánamo because of its excellent harbor.U.S. Marines landed with naval support in theinvasion of Guantánamo Bay in June 1898. As they moved inland, however,Spanish resistance increased, and the Marines required support from Cuban scouts.[citation needed]
Guantanamo Bay is of interest to U.S. military planners due to its geographical location in the Caribbean. It became a strategic location in defending the Panama Canal and the southern US coast. It was also a natural haven for naval vessels in the region. Due to other factors, it pushed the US to consider the area as a suitable location for a Naval Base.[7]
TheU.S. Marines 1st, 2nd & 3rd Regiments at Deer Point Camp, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, April 26, 1911
The naval base, nicknamed "GTMO" or "Gitmo", covers 116 square kilometres (45 sq mi) on the western and eastern banks of the bay. It was established in 1898, when the United States took control of Cuba from Spain following theSpanish–American War. The newly-formed Americanprotectorate incorporated thePlatt Amendment in the1901 Cuban Constitution.Tomás Estrada Palma, the first President of Cuba, offered a perpetual lease for the area around Guantánamo Bay on February 23, 1903. The 1903Cuban–American Treaty of Relations held, among other things, that the United States, to operate coaling and naval stations, has "complete jurisdiction and control" of the Guantánamo Bay, while recognizing that the Republic of Cuba retains ultimate sovereignty.[8][page needed]
In 1934, a newCuban-American Treaty of Relations, 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,[citation needed] and made the lease permanent unless both governments agreed to break it, or until the U.S. abandoned the base property.[9]
After theCuban Revolution of 1953–1959,United States PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower insisted that the status of the base remain unchanged, despite the objections ofFidel Castro. Since then, the Cuban government has cashed only one of the rent cheques from the U.S. government, and even then, according to Castro, only because of "confusion" in the early days of the Cuban revolution. The remaining uncashed cheques, made out to "Treasurer General of the Republic" (a title that ceased to exist after the revolution), were kept in Castro's office, stuffed into a desk drawer.[10]
In the 1990s, the United States used Guantanamo Bay as a processing center for asylum-seekers and as a camp for HIV-positive refugees.[citation needed][11] Over a period of six months, the US interned over 30,000 Haitian refugees in Guantanamo, while another 30,000 fled to theDominican Republic. Eventually, the US admitted 10,747 of the Haitians to refugee status in the United States. Most of the refugees were housed in a tent city on the re-purposed airstrip that would later be used to house the complex used for theGuantanamo military commissions. The refugees who represented discipline or security problems were held on the site that later becameCamp XRay, the initial site of theGuantanamo Bay detention camp.[citation needed] In August 1994, rioting broke out in the detention camps and 20 U.S. military police and 45 Haitians were injured.[12]
Since 2002, the base has included detention of individuals deemed of risk to United States national security. In 2009, the U.S. President,Barack Obama, gave orders for the detention camp to close by January 22, 2010. As of 2021[update], it remains open due to a congressional refusal of funds for its closure.[13]
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas has argued that the 1903 lease agreement was imposed on Cuba under duress and was a treaty between unequals, no longer compatible with modern international law, and voidableex nunc. He makes six suggestions for a peaceful settlement, including following the procedure outlined in theVienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.[14] However, Article 4 of the Vienna Convention states that its provisions do not apply to past treaties retroactively.
In January 2025, U.S. PresidentDonald Trump, said the US wouldsend to and detain migrants in thebase, resuming a practice that the US had employed at Guantanamo Bay previously over decades for migrants intercepted at sea.[15]
^Vaughne Miller; Alison Pickard; Ben Smith."Cuba and the United States - how close can they get?"(PDF).House of Commons Library. p. 18. RetrievedNovember 12, 2022.The Cuban government regards the US presence in Guantánamo Bay as illegal and insists the 1903 Treaty was obtained by threat of force and is in violation of international law.
