Strauss: Returning Guantanamo Bay to Cuban Control

Michael J. Strauss (Centre d'Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques) has published Returning Guantanamo Bay to Cuban Control (in Cuba in Transition: Papers and Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, 2016). Here's the introduction:

The revival of relations between the United States and Cuba since the end of 2014 has included the restoration of diplomatic ties, a limited easing of travel and financial restrictions, and new efforts to cooperate in areas ranging from law enforcement to the environment. However, a “full normalization” of bilateral relations is subject to resolving many outstanding issues. Among the main ones are a U.S. demand that Cuba compensate American interests for property seized during the Revolution, and Cuba’s insistence that the United States lift its trade embargo and return control of Guantanamo Bay to Cuba.

None of the outstanding issues is isolated — each can become interdependent with others in the negotiations to broaden relations — but every issue has distinct characteristics that can determine what might be done to address it. This paper focuses on identifying the legal and political options that may shape how the United States responds to Cuba’s demand for recovering control of Guantanamo Bay. It will also discuss some practical implications for both the United States and Cuba of satisfying this demand.