hypocritexposer said:Does the US own part of Cuba?
If you were asked to leave, would you? If you were under threeat of being "over run", would you protect your position and assests?
What's the treaty say?
at one point we OWNED all of Cuba.. the base was part of the Independence agreement / treaty.
After the last Spanish troops left the island in December 1898, the government of Cuba was handed over to the United States on 1 January 1899.
In December 1899, the U.S. War Secretary assured the Cuban populace that the occupation was temporary, that municipal and general elections would be held, that a Constituent Assembly would be set up, and that sovereignty would be handed to Cubans.
The Constitution was drawn up from November 1900 to February 1901 and then passed by the Assembly. It established a republican form of government, proclaimed internationally-recognized individual rights and liberties, freedom of religion, separation between church and state, and described the composition, structure and functions of state powers.
On 2 March 1901, the U.S. Congress passed the Army Appropriations Act, stipulating the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba following the Spanish-American War. As a rider, this act included the Platt Amendment, which defined the terms of Cuban-U.S. relations until 1934. It replaced the earlier Teller Amendment. The amendment provided for a number of rules heavily infringing on Cuba's sovereignty:
Cuba would not transfer Cuban land to any power other than the United States.
Cuba would contract no foreign debt without guarantees that the interest could be served from ordinary revenues.
The right to intervention in Cuban affairs and military occupation when the U.S. authorities considered that the life, properties and rights of U.S. citizens were in danger,
Cuba was prohibited from negotiating treaties with any country other than the United States "which will impair or to impair the independence of Cuba".
Cuba was prohibited to "permit any foreign power or powers to obtain…lodgement in or control over any portion" of Cuba.
The Isle of Pines (now called Isla de la Juventud) was deemed outside the boundaries of Cuba until the title to it was adjusted in a future treaty.
The sale or lease to the United States of "lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon". The amendment ceded to the United States the naval base in Cuba (Guantánamo Bay) and granted the right to use a number of other naval bases as coal stations.
In 1902, the United States handed over control to a Cuban government. As a condition of the transfer, the Cuban state had included in its constitution provisions implementing the requirements of the Platt Amendment, which among other things gave the United States the right to intervene militarily in Cuba
President Tomás Estrada Palma was elected in 1902, and Cuba was declared independent, though Guantanamo Bay was leased to the United States as part of the Platt Amendment.
The US and Cuba signed a treaty in 1934, granting the US a perpetual lease; private enterprise is not allowed under the treaty. Both the US and Cuba must agree on any termination of the lease.
After the Cuban Revolution, President Dwight Eisenhower insisted the status of the base remained unchanged, despite Fidel Castro's objections. Since then, the Cuban government has cashed only one of the rent checks from the U.S. government,
as to the rest.. we have let Cuba determine it's own destiny... despite it not being in our interest..
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