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Platt Amendment
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1901 in law
   
cuban-american relations
   
guantanamo bay naval base
   
history of cuba
   
history of the foreign relations of the united states
   
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The amendment ceded to the U.S. the naval base in Cuba ( Guantánamo Bay ), stipulated that Cuba would not transfer Cuban land to any power other than the U.S., mandated that Cuba would contract no Foreign Debt without guarantees that the interest could be served from ordinary revenues, ensured U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs when the U.S. deemed necessary, prohibited Cuba from negotiating treaties with any country other than the United States, and provided for a formal treaty detailing all the foregoing provisions.

Later in 1901 , under U.S. pressure, Cuba included the amendment's provisions in its constitution. After U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt withdrew federal troops from the island in 1902, Cuba signed the Cuban-American Treaty ( 1903 ), which outlined U.S. power in Cuba and the Caribbean. Tomás Estrada Palma , who had earlier favored outright annexation of Cuba by the United States, became president on May 20 , 1902 .

Following acceptance of the amendment, the U.S. ratified a Tariff pact that gave Cuban Sugar preference in the U.S. market and protection to selected U.S. products in the Cuban market. As a result of U.S. action, sugar production came into complete domination of the Cuban economy, while Cuban domestic consumption was integrated into the larger market of the United States.

Except for U.S. rights to Guantánamo Bay, the Platt Amendment provisions, which Cubans considered an Imperialist infringement of their Sovereignty , were repealed in 1934, when a new treaty with the U.S. was negotiated as a part of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's " Good Neighbor Policy " toward Latin America. The occupation of Guantánamo Bay still continues, and according to the treaty that right can only be revoked by the consent of both parties. The Cuban government strongly denounces the treaty on grounds that article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention On The Law Of Treaties declares a treaty void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force.

However, this article declares a treaty void only if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of international law. While the United States may have applied political pressure to Cuba in 1903, there was no use of force or the threat of its use.


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