Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Coordinates: 19°54′N 75°9′W / 19.9°N 75.15°W / 19.9; -75.15

United States Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (also called Gitmo or GTMO) is located on 45 square miles (120 km2) of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling (fueling) station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas U.S. Navy Base, and the only one in a country with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations. The Cuban government opposes the presence of the naval base, claiming that the lease is invalid under international law as it was not a sovereign nation at the time. The United States argues this point is irrelevant because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, for persons alleged to be unlawful combatants captured in Afghanistan and later in Iraq. The alleged mistreatment of prisoners, the proven mistreatment of some prisoners, and their denial of protection under the Geneva Conventions, has been a source of international controversy.