Why is Guantanamo bay in Cuba if Cuba and the US have such bad relations?

Question

I've heard one of the main reasons that Guantanamo bay is in Cuba is that because US laws don't apply there, which is understandable. But why would Cuba allow this? And what are they getting in return?

Answer 1

Guantanamo is a Navel installation from the war of the Bay of Pigs. This was back when John F. Kennedy saved America from the Cuban Missile Crisis. Sources: http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
Anyway America kept the Bay of Pigs where Guantanamo resides at. I hope this helps, since most Republicans always forget that it was a Democrat that really did save us from a nuclear war.

Answer 2

Guantanamo Bay has been a US based since 1898. It officially was sanctioned by a treaty in 1903 after the Spanish American War. The current government views it as an illegal based because they say that the original treaty was signed under duress (they are probably right, but that doesn't really matter in international relations.)

It is still there because the US wants to have a base there and Cuba does not want to provoke a shooting war with a much larger power. So it will stay until the US is pressured to give it up by a much broader section of the world. Most likely they will sometime after Castro dies.

Answer 3

Guantanamo is a US possession, just as Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are. We control it. Castro does not have a say in what we do there. They're getting nothing in return. We don't deal with Communist governments like Cuba.

Answer 4

If I recall correctly, the US claims that the US Base in Guantanamo is on land leased by the previous government and was arranged by the legitimate government of Cuba, and not with Fidel; the annual fee for the land is $2,000, which the US sends Fidel every year and he keeps the collection of uncashed US cheques in his top drawer of his desk; I remember this from an old, old documentary, when Fidel still had dark hair and more weight on his carcass.

Answer 5

Gitmo is in Cuba because that is where God put it. We have a base there because of a long term lease signed by a previous Cuban govt. The present govt would rather we left.

Answer 6

I've heard that Guantanamo Bay is in Cuba because that's where it's located. But you are right. we should bring them here. Then we could have functions like "take a terrorist to lunch day" and "terrorist sleep overs", or how about "terrorist pen pals". We'll put you in charge because you have a terrorist support mentality.

Answer 7

The US was granted a perpetual lease for the land in the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty.

Answer 8

it's a leftover from before 1959

Answer 9

That's a really good question. I don't know why it's there but it makes you wonder
what is really going on and like you said, what do they get in return.

Answer 10

it is a military base assumed by the americans i belive prior to castro (Correct me here) and the ownership wasnt properly challenged since that would be an act of war.

its military base so martial law applies