If, on the one hand, the United States recognizes the maintenance of the final sovereignty of the Republic of Cuba over the land and sea areas described above, the Republic of Cuba agrees that, during the period of occupation of those territories by the United States, under the terms of this Agreement, the United States shall exercise its full jurisdiction and control over and within such territories with the right to: acquire land or other property therein for public purposes in the United States by purchasing or exercising a significant estate (under the terms agreed below by both governments) with full compensation to the owners of that domain. This Rental Agreement is subject to all the conditions set forth in Article II of this Agreement. U.S. rights at Guantanamo are clear and undeniable. In a treaty signed in 1903 and reaffirmed in 1934, the United States recognized Cuba`s “ultimate sovereignty” over the 45-square-mile enclave in the province of Oriente, near the southeastern tip of the island. In return, Cuba ceded “full jurisdiction and control” to the United States through an indefinite lease that can only be cancelled by mutual agreement. If arguments based on U.S. property rights fail, Cuba can still argue that the United States should return the territory under international law. Although both states have the right to appear before the International Court of Justice (ICJ)[35], they should each submit to the mandatory jurisdiction of the ICJ. [36] In this case, Cuba could challenge the validity of the lease on the basis of U.S. conduct. According to article 52 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Vienna Convention), “a treaty is void if its conclusion was obtained by the threat or use of force”. [37] The Platt Amendment and the accompanying agreement could have violated this section because the lease provision was a threatening ultimatum.

[38] The first Cuban government extended the lease with unequal bargaining power:[39] Cuba understood that U.S. forces would remain on the island if the lease agreement was not concluded,[40] which is a possible manifestation of coercion. [41] [38] See Gary L. Maris, International Law and Guantanamo, 29 J. Pol. 261, 277 (1967) (stating that “the threat to leave foreign forces in the territory of a State, manifestly with the intention of interfering in the affairs of the Government of that State, is a coercive situation arising from the pressure of a State far superior to military power”); see also Timothy Keen & Paul Gioia, The Guantanamo Base, A U.S. Colonial Relic Impeding Peace with Cuba, Council on Hemispheric Aff. (February 12, 2015), www.coha.org/the-guantanamo-base-a-u-s-colonial-relic-impeding-peace-with-cuba/#_ftnref18. [23] Scott Packard, How Guantanamo Bay Became the Place the U.S. Keeps Detainees, Atlantic (September 4, 2013) www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/09/how-guantanamo-bay-became-the-place-the-us-keeps-detainees/279308/. Alfred-Maurice de Zayas argued that the 1903 lease had been imposed on Cuba under duress and that a treaty between unequals was no longer compatible with modern international law and was questionable ex nunc.

It makes six proposals for a peaceful settlement, including respect for the procedure described in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. [13] [1] The Guantánamo Docket, N.Y. Times, www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/guantanamo, perma.cc/EV64-C3UA (last updated January 21, 2021). [7] Dan Roberts & Jonathan Watts, Castro Demands Return of Guantánamo Bay During Historic Obama Visit, Guardian (March 21, 2016, 7:53 p.m.), www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/21/raul-castro-demands-return-guantanamo-bay-obama-visit. The United States took territorial control of the southern part of Guantánamo Bay under the 1903 lease. [1] The United States exercises jurisdiction and control over this territory while recognizing that Cuba retains its ultimate sovereignty. The Cuban government is looking at the United States. Presence at Guantánamo Bay as an illegal occupation on the grounds that the Cuban-American treaty “was obtained by the threat of force and violates international law”. Some lawyers believe that the lease may be questionable. [2] It houses the Guantanamo Bay naval base and the Guantanamo Bay internment camp within the base, both of which are governed by the United States. Since the 1959 revolution, Cuba has bought back only one lease payment from the U.S.

government. [3] [25] Carol Rosenberg, The Cost of Running Guantánamo Bay: $13 Million Per Prisoner, N.Y. Times, www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/us/politics/guantanamo-bay-cost-prison.html (last updated December 15, 2020). The first lease signed by President Theodore Roosevelt allowed the United States to contribute to the defense of Cuba by maintaining “coal and naval stations.” A key element of this agreement was the transfer of “full jurisdiction and control over and within these territories” to the United States. The only restrictions for the United States were that the area would only be used as a coal and marine base, and that ships trading with Cuba would retain free passage through the bay surrounded by the reserve. A subsequent agreement, signed by President Roosevelt on October 2, 1903, expanded the original lease, including a rent of two thousand dollars per year and that Cuban justice refugees who fled to the U.S. reservation would be returned to Cuban authorities. [5] The United States also anglicized the name of the bay to remove the Spanish accent sign above the second “a”. See e.B.

Miriam Pensack, An American Century of Brutal Overseas Conquest Started at Guantánamo Bay, Intercept (July 4, 2018, 10:00 a.m.), theintercept.com/2018/07/04/guantanamo-bay-cuba/ (note that the base is called “GTMO” in U.S. military jargon). [16] Fidel Castro has already cashed a check, but he claimed that this happened by mistake. Ryan Faith, Here`s Why the U.S. Still Uses Guantanamo to Sit in Cuba, VICE (March 24, 2016, 12:30 p.m.), www.vice.com/en/article/59ejma/heres-why-the-us-is-still-using-guantanamo-to-squat-in-cuba. The lease was originally valued at two thousand dollars in gold coins. Lease of certain land and sea areas for naval or coal stations at Guantanamo and Bahia Honda in the United States by the Cuban government, art. . . .