With all the talk about the torture in Guantanamo Bay, it’s easy to lose sight of another fact that I still find really strange.
It’s in Cuba. We’re renting the space from them, despite an embargo on trade with their country.
Why don’t we move it somewhere else, even if it’s just over to the Dominican Republic or something of the sort? I just find it really bizarre that we’re paying them (and that they’re taking our money) when they’re our sworn enemies. Why are we in Cuba?
So we signed the lease with a governent long before Castro came to power. In fact the base there is over 100 years old. Castro is not too happy about it and there have been all sorts of legal issues over the years about it. But since Castro is not so stupid as to go to war over it we stay.
Castro does not cash the checks we give him except that they did cash the first one. Since the cashed one the US insists that was a ratification of the treaty that created the lease.
There are probably a couple of reasons we stay. One is probably because it is very useful to have a base that close to a foe. Another is likely just ot annoy Castro. And of course it is a really good location for a navy base. Why move it?