The bay has been the focus of military activities for a long time. In the colonial era, British troops tried to land there, during the War of the Jenkin's Ear. That war was between England and Spain. It took place between 1739 and 1742. The troops could land in the bay, and later tried to take the city Santiago de Cuba. As it turned out, this was impossible. So the troops claimed the bay as theirs, and named it "Cumberland Harbour". Later they left the island again, because some of their troops had died from tropical diseases.
The United States tried to buy the whole island of Cuba. In the Spanish-American war, US troops occupied the bay, because there was a harbour there. The Treaty of Paris, between the United States and Spain ended the war. It gave Cuba its independence from Spain. Spain also gave the territory of Puerto Rico, and the islands of Guam and the Philippines to the United States, amongst others. Cuba, however, came under the political and military infuence of the United States. The US then put presidents and dictators at the head of the Cuban state. These were of course favorable to the interests of the United States. In 1902 the Platt Amendment was appended to the Constitution of the Cuban state. It limited the freedom of Cuba very much. It also said that some territory in the south should be ceded to the United States for a military base. Bound by the amendment, the Cubans granted the US a 99-year lease to the territory. This treaty was made by Tomás Estrada Palma, an American citizen, who became the first President of Cuba.
The current Cuban government rejects the Cuban-American Treaty because it violates article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The Cuban government therefore considers the U.S. presence in Guantánamo to be an illegal occupation of the area. Article 52 declares a treaty void only if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of international law.
The southern portion of the bay is surrounded by the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, a naval base established in 1898. Recently, the base began hosting a detainment camp for suspected militant combatants collected (actions that are viewed by some as kidnapping) from both Afghanistan and Iraq, or from secret NATO prisons in Europe (discovered recently, in 2006).
The base, sometimes called "GTMO" or "Gitmo", covers 116 km² (about 45 square miles) on the western and eastern banks of the bay. It was established in 1898, when the United States obtained control of Cuba from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American War, following the 1898 invasion of Guantánamo Bay. The U.S. government obtained a perpetual lease that began on February 23, 1903.
Guantanamo (disambiguation)
Guantánamo is a city in Cuba.
Guantánamo or Guantanamo might also mean:
Guantánamo Province
Guantánamo is the easternmost province of Cuba. Its capital is also called Guantánamo. Other towns include Baracoa. The province surrounds the important U.S. Navy base at Guantánamo Bay.
Guantánamo's architecture and culture is unlike the rest of Cuba.
The original settlement was done by Catalan families from the Ampurdan region of north-eastern Catalunya, Spain in 1764. British forces had occupied the area for over 40 years and Scot-Irish settlers were a constant preoccupation to the Spanish auhorities. In 1805, when the French were forced out of St. Domingue (Haiti) 35,000 French settlers were given lands in Cuba, many French families settled in the Guantanamo area becoming coffee and cacao planters meaning that many buildings are comparable to those of the French Quarter of New Orleans in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
Before the Castroite Revolution the Carnivals of Guantanmo were famous in Cuba.
The province is only 80 km away from Haiti its closest point, across the Windward Passage and close enough to see lights on Haiti on a clear night. Guantánamo also has a number of immigrants from Jamaica.
The Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa mountains (Sierra de Cristal) dominate the province, dividing both climate and landscape. The northern coast, battered by prevailing winds, is the wettest part of the country, while the south, sheltered and dry, is the hottest. The north is characterized by rainforests, while the south is arid and has many cacti.
Havana Province
Havana Province, (Spanish - Provincia de la Habana), Cuba, is a former provinces of Cuba. On January 1, 2011 it was split into two new provinces - Artemisa Province and Mayabeque Province.
The capital city of Havana is a separate province, surrounded by the province of Havana. It had 711 066 people in the 2002 census. The largest city is the city of Artemisa with a population of 75,000 in 2003. The second largest city is Güines (70,000).
Havana Province had borders with the city of Havana, Pinar del Rio, and Matanzas. It has coasts in the south and north and has dozens of towns and a few small cities which rank between the 20 and 40 largest of the island.
The southern coast of the province has many swamps and wetlands.
Most of the province's farms raise cattle and grow food, mostly potatos and fruit. Unlike much of Cuba, sugar and tobacco play only a small role in the province's economy. There is also much industrialization in the province, with many electricity plants and sugar mills.
Santiago de Cuba Province
Santiago de Cuba Province is the second most populated province in the island of Cuba. It has a population of about 1.2 million people. The largest city Santiago de Cuba (554,000) is its main administrative center. Other large cities include Palma Soriano (125,000), Contramaestre (88,000), Mayarí Arriba (80,000), San Luis (65,000) and Songo-la Maya (50,000).
The province has many material resources such as iron and nickel. The economy, however, relies mostly on agriculture, with large plantations growing bananas, cacao and coffee dotting the landscape. Industry is growing around the capital, as is tourism. The natural beauty of the area is attracting many tourists from both the rest of Cuba and from overseas.
Santiago de Cuba province has been the site of many battles, both during the war for independence and the 1959 Cuban Revolution, where much of the guerrilla fighting took place in the mountainous province.
Before 1976, Cuba was divided into six provinces. One of these was Oriente province, which was, prior to 1905, known as Santiago de Cuba province. See Historical provinces of Cuba.
Granma Province
Granma is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Bayamo. Other towns on it include Manzanillo (a port on the Gulf of Guacanayabo) and Pilón.
The province was named after the yacht "Granma", used by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro to land in Cuba with 82 guerrillas in 1956. The American who sold them the secondhand yacht in Mexico apparently had named it after his grandmother and so the name of this vessel, with its non-standard spelling, became an icon for Cuban communism. Not every Cuban realizes that the name would translate as "abuela," although all can name the mothership of the revolution.
The province is full of reminders of the Cuban Revolution, and the Cuban Wars of Independence. There are many plaques in the mountains that commemorate the struggle against Fulgencio Batista. The struggle took place in 1959.
It is believed there are many unmarked grave sites from the different wars. The sites of the various palenques, the fortified hamlets of escaped slaves can be found. These have been uncovered by archaeological digs. Most of these are not specially marked. Recently a hurricane destroyed the site of Castro's headquarters at La Plata.
There are numerous abandoned gold, silver, and manganese mine sites. This is the area where Raúl Castro holds his centre of power and it is said to be the site of secret garrisons.