Guantanamo Bay

The Guantanamo Bay prison is frequently in the news. We often hear about controversy surrounding the prison, the issue of prisoner rights, and speculation on when the prison might finally be closed. One thing rarely discussed, however, is why the US has a naval base in Cuba, and when the Americans plan to leave the country. This is, after all, the only US base in the world located in a country with which the US has no diplomatic relations.

During the nineteenth century, the young United States began a period of expansionism. This included expansion to the west as the "frontier" was pushed back further and further as native peoples were wiped out or ethnically cleansed and their land seized. But the US was also interested in maintaining sole control over the Western hemisphere to the exclusion of European powers. This was formalized in the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. This stated that the US would view any attempts by Europeans to colonize land as an act of aggression, but also that the US would agree to not interfere in European affairs.

This idea was later popularly expressed using the concept of Manifest Destiny, which suggested that the US was destined to control all North American territory, including Canada, Mexico, Cuba and Central America. This expansion of control was viewed as ethical, and even divinely inspired, and it is from this ideology that the term "From sea to shining sea" originated.

Starting in 1868, Cubans began a series of wars fighting for independence from Spanish colonial rule. The third of these wars is now known as the Cuban War of Independence and was launched in 1895 and led by Cuban intellectual and revolutionary José Martí. Martí was killed early in the war during a battle against Spanish troops. He is considered a national hero in Cuba and is widely admired across Latin America.

During this period, Spain was dealing with battles for independence in colonies around the world, and the remaining Spanish Empire was under serious threat. The US saw this as an opportunity to expand its territory, and began to set the stage for war. A global naval deployment began, with ships sent to the Gulf of Mexico, Hong Kong, and the coast of Spain. The USS Maine was sent to Havana in January 1898, and was destroyed in an explosion three weeks later. The cause is still not known definitively today. The ship was loaded with munitions, so it may have been caused by an internal accident, or it may have hit a mine. Some have suggested it was deliberately destroyed by the Americans as a pretext for war.

Whatever the cause, a massive media campaign was begun in the United States to build support for a war against Spain. A common rallying cry was "Remember the Maine, To Hell with Spain!" The media also began spreading stories about atrocities committed by the Spanish against Cubans, and promoted the idea that the US should help support the "liberation" of Cuba. The campaign was successful, and in April the US Congress declared war against Spain.

The Spanish–American War lasted just four months and ended in a decisive US victory. The US gained colonial control over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, and temporary power in Cuba. The Philippines eventually achieved independence, but Guam and Puerto Rico remain American territories to this day. During the war, the US fleet used Guantanamo Bay as shelter from hurricanes. Their temporary presence was expanded and they began to construct a full naval base.

While the US withdrew most of its troops from Cuba after the war, it maintained control over the country. The first president of Cuba was Tomás Estrada Palma, an American citizen. It was President Palma who signed the Cuban–American Treaty in 1903, giving the US a perpetual lease on Guantanamo Bay for use as a naval station. Despite being a US citizen, however, Palma had been fighting for Cuban independence for decades, and did not wish to give the US territory. However, the US had initially wanted five bases, and he felt it was a victory limiting them to just one. It is important to note that US troops were stationed on the island at the time, and there was an implied threat underpinning treaty negotiations.

In the following years the US would continue to interfere in Cuban affairs, including a three year occupation and governorship. In 1934, another treaty was signed with Cuba, reaffirming the lease of Guantanamo Bay, for which the US agreed to pay $4,085 a year. After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, only a single one of these cheques was cashed by the Cuban government. The Cubans argue that was done by mistake in the confusion of organizing a new government, while the US claims it means Cuba has validated the treaty.

For over 50 years, Cuba has consistently maintained the lease is invalid and demanded that the US leave, which they have obviously refused to do. The treaties claimed by the US have been largely signed by puppet governments, or under the threat of military force, making their validity today dubious. Additionally, the US is a large and powerful country, with hundreds of military bases throughout the world, so it is unclear why they insist on maintaining this base. Certainly they do not need it for any strategic purposes. A base in Florida, for example, just 150 kilometres away, could serve the same function.

If the US hopes to eventually reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba, leaving Guantanamo, as well as ending the embargo, would be a couple good first steps. Or put another way, the US needs to simply do the right thing, and not stay where they are not wanted. If this helps to provide a rationale or excuse for closing the prison, so much the better.