How does the US justify holding a military base on Guantanamo that Cubans resent?

Answer 1

Essentially the Castro Government doesn't like it because in their eyes, the 1903 Cuban-American Treaty isn't valid because it was signed when Cuba wasn't a sovereign nation. That's like saying the Declaration of Independence or the Treaty of Alliance with France in 1778 weren't valid because the U.S. wasn't a sovereign nation when it was signed by the Colonial government.

The United States maintains that the treaty was ratified post-revolution, when Cuba was a sovereign nation, when it cashed a lease check for the Guantanamo Naval Base in accordance with the treaty. In other words, they cashed the rent check, and the U.S. is entitled to stay there as a result. If they didn't want them there, they shouldn't have taken the money.

Of course, it really comes down to possession; the United States won't leave, and the Castro government isn't willing to push the issue with military force to remove the base and risk a war with the United States. It's a tenuous arrangement to be sure, but so far it's never gone past grumbling about it on the Cuban's part, and the U.S. Navy and Marines would like nothing better than an excuse to stick it to the Castro government if they attack.