Originally posted by
[email protected] 22 2004, 01:30 AM
Of course, the agreement was made with the Batista regime after the Spanish American War, both sides agreed on a lease agreement. The lease agreement was set for an indefinite time, meaning the lease cold only end when both sides agreed to end the lease.
I hate the illegal occupation of Guantanamo Bay by the U$ Navy as much as you do, but you need to get your timeline straight. The Spanish-American War officially lasted from 1896-1899. Fulgencio Batista was not born until 1901, and although a rather powerful figure in the Cuban political landscape (serving as the Cuban Army's Chief of staff) when the Guantanamo Bay Naval base renewal was signed in 1936, he was not in a position to dictate the terms of the renewal treaty.
He actually served as elected president from 1940-1944, but in 1952 staged a coup and sat as dictator until 1959 when he fled the country with Castro's M-26-7 forces on his heels. I suspect that, in all likelihood, the reason the U$ still holds the Guantanamo base is that Castro knew better than to try to attack the U$ forces stationed there. It was a tactical decision, and he was right in his refrain without which the U$ itself probably would have stepped in full force. In all likelihood Castro's forces would have lost such a confrontation, placing the revolution in irrevocable jeapordy, and he knew it.