CUBA-USA: A FEW DETAILS ABOUT THE GUANTANAMO NAVAL BASE By: Dr. Néstor García Iturbe July 1, 2015 A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann. As part of the actions that Cuba has brought forward in the process of normalization of relations with the US, there is the devolution to our country of the territory and facilities where the Guantanamo Naval Base is located. According to documentary information I have received, Guantanamo Bay and the surrounding area was studied in 1899 by the United States Navy. The study was conducted by part of the crew of the U.S.S. Eagle, commanded at the time by Lieutenant F.F. Fletcher. Ensign P.Symington was designated to head the work together with cadets G.L.Smith, T.I. Johnson, W.Mc.Dowell. The medical assistant F.B. Hancock and civilian A.R.Stevens also participated. The results of this study were recorded in a map drawn by Emilio Heredia. An interesting fact is that, in this 1899 map, the boundaries of the Guantanamo Naval Base are clearly reflected and they correspond exactly with the ones that appear in the document that was signed by both countries entitled Agreement on 16-23 February 1903. This was in keeping with the provisions of Article VII of the appendix imposed by the United States to the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba in1902. The aforementioned Agreement establishes that Cuba, (under the conditions that will be agreed by the two governments) shall lease land to the United States for coaling and naval stations. Article I of the Agreement referred to in the previous paragraph, stipulates that the area to be leased: "1. In Guantanamo (See the1857 letter of the Hydrographic Office). Starting from a point on the south coast, located 4.37 nautical miles east of Punta de Barlovento Lighthouse, a line running due north for a distance of 4.25 nautical miles; From the western end of this line, a line of 3.31 nautical miles due west; From the north end of this line, a line of 5.87 nautical miles due west; Based on the southwestern end of the latter line, a line due south up to the coast; This lease is subject to all the conditions listed in Article II of this Agreement." Article II establishes conditions that are important to consider for all purposes. "The granting of the preceding article includes the right to use and occupy the waters adjacent to said areas of land and water, and improve and deepen the entrances to them and their anchorages, and in general to do all things necessary to fit the premises to be used exclusively as coaling or naval stations and for no other purpose." This Agreement was signed on February 16, 1903, by the President of the Republic of Cuba, Tomas Estrada Palma, and on February 23, 1903 by US President Theodore Roosevelt. The document was approved by the Senate of the Republic of Cuba on July 16, 1903 and by the US Congress on October 2, 1903. The US government has maintained the Naval Base within the limits established in the agreement, but has failed to fulfill some of the items included in Section II, which clearly states that the leased land will be used exclusively as coaling or naval stations and for no other purpose. It is thus totally illegal --for not conforming to the signed agreement-- to establish a prison in the leased premises. Subsequently, on December 27, 1912 another agreement between the two countries is drawn up. This document proposed to terminate the part of the agreement related to the base in Bahia Honda and to expand it with respect to water and land limits of the Guantanamo Naval Station. In this new document, the boundaries of the land and water areas of the facility at Guantanamo are modified. The areas to which we refer almost doubled, since one of the sides of the Base was planned to be at the center of the Yateras River, several kilometers east of the current limit. Also other limits that appeared in the original document were modified and extended considerably. This agreement was signed on December 27, 1912 by Manuel Sanguily as the representative of Cuba and A.M. Beaupré representing the United States. Luckily for us, the agreement was not submitted --within the stipulated time-- to the approval of the Senate of Cuba or the United States, so it expired. If the agreement had been approved, the Guantanamo Naval Base at present would roughly double the size of the current one. BIBLIOGRAPHY Historia de la Enmienda Platt, Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, Editorial de las Ciencias Sociales, La Habana 1973. Mapa M-1101 de la Bahía de Guantánamo, Archivo Nacional de Cuba |
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CUBA.-EU.- ALGUNOS DETALLES SOBRE LA BASE NAVAL DE GUANTÁNAMO
Como parte de la acciones que ha planteado Cuba, dentro del proceso
de normalización de relaciones con Estados Unidos, se encuentra la
devolución a nuestro país del territorio e instalaciones donde se
encuentra la Base Naval de Guantánamo.
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