Guantánamo Bay

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This article is about the body of water. For the U.S.-operated military prison, see Guantanamo Bay detention camp. For the U.S. Naval base, see Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. For other titular locales and uses, see Guantanamo (disambiguation).

Aerial view of Guantánamo Bay

Guantánamo Bay (Spanish: Bahía de Guantánamo) is a bay located in Guantánamo Province at the south-eastern end of Cuba (19°54′N 75°9′W / 19.9, -75.15). It is the largest harbor on the south side of the island and is surrounded by steep hills creating an enclave cut off from its immediate hinterland.

The United States assumed territorial control over Guantánamo Bay under the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty, which granted the United States a perpetual lease of the area without the Cuban Government reacting. The current Cuban government considers the U.S. presence in Guantánamo to be illegal, arguing that the Cuban-American Treaty violates Article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which declares a treaty void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of international law. Article 4 of the same document, however, states that Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties shall not be retroactively applied to any treaties made before itself.^[1]

The southern portion of the bay is surrounded by the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, established in 1898. Since 2002 the base has hosted a detainment camp for suspected militant combatants from Afghanistan and from around the world, but specifically not for captives taken in Iraq, who qualify for POW status.

[edit] In Popular Culture

The 1992 film A Few Good Men with Jack Nicholson as the Guantanamo base commander centers around an incident occurring on the base.

The 2003 film Bad Boys 2 with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence After a lengthy car chase they end up at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.

The 2008 film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is about two young men escaping Guantanamo Bay prison after being falsely accused of terrorism.