Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba

 

 

 

 

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

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Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Spanish: Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by members of the U.S. military[1]) is a United States military base located on 45 square miles (117 km2) of land and water on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It has been permanently leased to the United States since 1903 as a coaling station and naval base, making it the oldest overseas U.S. naval base in the world.  The lease was $2,000 in gold per year until 1934,  when the payment was set to match the value in gold in dollars; in 1974, the yearly lease was set to $4,085.

 

Since taking power in 1959, the Cuban communist government has consistently protested against the U.S. presence on Cuban soil, arguing that the base "was imposed on Cuba by force" and is "illegal under international law." Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, for alleged unlawful combatants captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places during the War on Terror.  Cases of alleged torture of prisoners  by the U.S. military, and their denial of protection under the Geneva Conventions, have been criticized.

 

 

The 1903 lease has no fixed expiration date,  and as such it can only be ended if the US Navy decided to abandon the area or both countries agreed mutually to end the lease.

 

An aerial view of Guantanamo Bay in 2002.

Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

 

Cuban President Raul Castro demanded in a speech this week that the U.S. remove the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay before diplomatic relations between the two countries are normalized. The White House has dismissed the idea, saying in a statement that President Obama “does believe that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed down… but not the naval base”  ~ JAN 30, 2015~

 

Geography

The Naval Base occupies three main geographical sections: Leeward Point, Windward Point, and Guantánamo Bay. Guantánamo Bay physically divides the Naval Station into sections. The bay extends past the boundaries of the base into Cuba, where the bay is then referred to as Bahía de Guantánamo. Guantánamo Bay contains several cays, which are identified as Hospital Cay, Medico Cay, North Toro Cay, and South Toro Cay.

History

Spanish era

The area surrounding Guantanamo Bay was originally inhabited by the Taíno people.  On 30 April 1494, Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage, arrived and spent the night. The place where Columbus landed is now known as Fisherman's Point.  Columbus declared the bay Puerto Grande.

 

Spanish–American War

Main articles: Spanish–American War and Battle of Guantánamo Bay

 

During the Spanish–American War, the U.S. fleet attacking Santiago  secured Guantánamo's harbor for protection during the hurricane season of 1898.  The Marines landed at Guantanamo Bay with naval support, and American and Cuban forces routed the defending Spanish troops. There is a monument on McCalla Hill to one Navy officer and five Marines who died in battle at Guantanamo Bay.

 

The war ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1898, in which Spain formally relinquished control of Cuba. Although the war was over, the United States maintained a strong military presence on the island. In 1901 the United States government passed the Platt Amendment as part of an Army Appropriations Bill. Section VII of this amendment read

That to enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the government of Cuba will sell or lease to the United States lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.

 

After initial resistance by the Cuban Constitutional Convention, the Platt Amendment was incorporated into the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba in 1901.  The Constitution took effect in 1902, and land for a naval base at Guantanamo Bay was granted to the United States the following year.

Permanent lease

See also: Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1903)

 

 

Agreement for the lease to the United States of lands in Cuba for coaling and naval stations

Signed ; 16 February 1903; 23 February 1903

Effective ; 23 February 1903

 

The 1903 lease agreement, which has no fixed expiration date,  was executed in two parts. The first, signed in February, consisted of the following provisions:

1. Agreement – The United States of America and the Republic of Cuba, desiring to maintain the Independence of Cuba, will enter into a lease for lands necessary for US Naval Stations.
2. Article 1 – Describes the boundaries of the areas being leased, Guantanamo Bay and Bahia Honda.
3. Article 2 – The U.S. may occupy, use, and modify the properties to fit the needs of a coaling and naval station, only. Vessels in the Cuban trade shall have free passage.
4. Article 3 – Cuba retains ultimate sovereignty, but during the occupation, the U.S. exercises sole jurisdiction over the areas described in Article 1. Under conditions to be agreed on, the U.S. has the right to acquire, by purchase or eminent domain, any land included therein.

Agreement providing conditions for the lease of coaling or naval stations

Signed ;  2 July 1903

Effective ; 6 October 1903

 

The second part, signed five months later in July 1903, consisted of the following provisions:

1. Article 1 – Payment is $2000 gold coin, annually. All private lands within the boundaries shall be acquired by Cuba. The U.S. will advance rental payments to Cuba to facilitate those purchases.
2. Article 2 – The U.S. shall pay for a survey of the sites and mark the boundaries with fences.
3. Article 3 – There will be no commercial or other enterprise within the leased areas.
4. Article 4 – Mutual extradition
5. Article 5 – Not ports of entry.
6. Article 6 – Ships shall be subject to Cuban port police. The U.S. will not obstruct entry or departure into the bay.
7. Article 7 – This proposal is open for seven months.

SIGNED Theodore Roosevelt and Jose M Garcia Montes.

 

In 1934, the United States unilaterally changed the payment from gold coin to U.S. dollars per the Gold Reserve Act. The lease amount was set at US$3,386.25, based on the price of gold at the time.  In 1973, the U.S. adjusted the lease amount to $3,676.50, and in 1974 to $4,085, based on further increases to the price of gold in USD.  Payments have been sent annually, but only one lease payment has been accepted since the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro claimed that this check was deposited due to confusion in 1959. The Cuban government has not deposited any other lease check since that time.

 

Before and during World War II

During World War II, the base was set up to use a nondescript number for postal operations. The base used the Fleet Post Office, Atlantic, in New York City, with the address: 115 FPO NY.  The base was also an important intermediate distribution point for merchant shipping convoys from New York City and Key West, Florida, to the Panama Canal and the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Cold War and beyond

From 1953 to 1959, thousands of Cubans commuted daily from outside the base to jobs within it. In mid-1958, vehicular traffic was stopped; workers were required to walk through the base's several gates. Public Works Center buses were pressed into service almost overnight to carry the tides of workers to and from the gate.

 

The "Cactus Curtain" is a term describing the line separating the naval base from Cuban-controlled territory,  an allusion to Europe's Iron Curtain,  the Bamboo Curtain in East Asia, and the similar Ice Curtain in the Bering Strait. After the Cuban Revolution, some Cubans sought refuge on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.  In late 1961, Cuban troops planted an 8-mile (13 km) long, 10-foot (3.0 m) wide  barrier of Opuntia (prickly pear) cactus along the northeastern section of the 17-mile (27 km) fence surrounding the base in order to prevent checkpoint evasion when moving between the base and Cuba proper.

 

The curtain forms part of a "no man's land" that encircles the base.  This area is complete with perimeter patrols, outposts featuring sandbags, and watchtowers,  and has been complemented with barbed wire fences, minefields, and cacti.  Apart from the cacti, both U.S. and Cuban troops erected, maintained, and otherwise manned these defenses, primarily to prevent checkpoint evasion and possible invasion from the other side.

U.S. Marines stack up landmines for disposal in July 1997.

 

U.S. and Cuban troops placed some 55,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank land mines across the "no man's land" around the perimeter of the naval base,  creating the second-largest minefield in the world, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere.  Initially, the mines were laid down by US troops, who also laid down signs stating that the landmines were "precautions" and should not be viewed as "aggressive".

 

 In response, Cuban troops also laid down their own mines, with both sides completing their minefields in 1961. Between 1961 and 1965, landmine explosions resulted in the deaths of at least 10 people, including as the result of engineering accidents and late-night partygoers. On 16 May 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered the demining of the American field.  They have since been replaced with motion and sound sensors to detect intruders on the base. The Cuban government has not removed its corresponding minefield outside the perimeter.

 

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the families of military personnel were evacuated from the base. Notified of the evacuation on 22 October, evacuees were told to pack one suitcase per family member, to bring evacuation and immunization cards, to tie pets in the yard, to leave the keys to the house on the dining table, and to wait in front of the house for buses.  Dependents travelled to the airfield for flights to the United States, or to ports for passage aboard evacuation ships.  After the crisis was resolved, family members were allowed to return to the base in December 1962.

 

 

From 1939, the base's water was supplied by pipelines that drew water from the Yateras River about 4.5 miles (7 km) northeast of the base. The U.S. government paid a fee for this; in 1964, it was about $14,000 a month for about 2.5 million U.S. gal (9,000 m3) per day.  In 1964, the Cuban government stopped the flow. The base had about 14 million U.S. gal (50,000 m3) of water in storage, and strict water conservation was put into effect immediately.

 

The U.S. first imported water from Jamaica by barge, then relocated a desalination plant from San Diego (Point Loma).

 

When the Cuban government accused the United States of "stealing water,"  base commander John D. Bulkeley ordered that the pipelines be cut and a section removed. A 38 in (97 cm) length of the 14 in (36 cm) diameter pipe and a 20 in (51 cm) length of the 10 in (25 cm) diameter pipe were lifted from the ground and the openings sealed.

 

During the 1960s and 1970s, the base had problems with alcohol and racial tension.  Harassment and strip searches also became a regular occurrence for Cuban workers on the base.

United States training ship Monongahela, around 1903

 

Several old guns from the USS Monongahela (1862) have been salvaged and placed around the base. The old warship served as a storeship at Guantanamo until destroyed by fire on 17 March 1908. A 4-inch (100 mm) gun was salvaged from her wreck and put on display at the Naval Station. Since the gun was deformed by the heat from the fire, it was nicknamed "Old Droopy". A similar gun, possibly also salvaged from the Monongahela, is on display near the Bay View Club on the Naval Station.

 

By 2006, only two elderly Cubans, Luis Delarosa and Harry Henry, still crossed the base's North East Gate daily to work on the base, because the Cuban government prohibited new recruitment since 1959. They both retired at the end of 2012.  At the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013, Cuba's Foreign Minister demanded the U.S. return the base.

 

Current operations

Wind turbines atop John Paul Jones Hill, the highest point on the base

 

The military facility has over 8,500 U.S. sailors and Marines stationed there,  and being the only military base the U.S. maintains in a socialist country.

 

In 2005, the U.S. Navy completed a $12 million wind-power project at the base, erecting four 950 kilowatt, 275-foot tall (84 m) wind turbines, reducing the need for diesel fuel to power the existing diesel generators (the base's primary electricity generation).  In 2006, the wind turbines reduced diesel fuel consumption by 650,000 U.S. gallons (2.5 million liters) annually.

Airfields

There are two airfields within the base, Leeward Point Field and McCalla Field. Leeward Point Field is the active military airfield, with the ICAO code MUGM and IATA code NBW. McCalla Field was designated as the auxiliary landing field in 1970.

 

Resident units

Homeported watercraft

Climate

The bay has an annual rainfall of about 24 in (610 mm).  The amount of rainfall has resulted in the base being classified as a semi-arid desert environment.  The annual average high temperature on the base is 88.2 °F (31.2 °C), the annual average low is 72.5 °F (22.5 °C).

Guantanamo Bay detention camp

(Gitmo)

Camp_Delta,_Guantanamo_Bay,_Cuba 

 

The entrance to Camp 1 in Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta.

The base's detention camps are numbered based on the order in which they were built, not their order of precedence or level of security.  Photo by Kathleen T. Rhem

Guantanamo Bay detention camp

                                                                     PessinGuantanamoCampFiveGate210

 

Cuba_(location_map).svg  

Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba.