Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (also called
GTMO and pronounced
gitmo by the
U.S. military because the airfield designation code is GTMO) is located on of land and water at
Guantánamo Bay,
Cuba, which the
United States leased for use as a
coaling and
naval station in the
Cuban–American Treaty of 1903 (for $2,000 until 1934, for $4,085 since 1938 until now). The base is on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas U.S. Naval Base. Since 1959
Cuban Revolution, the Cuban government has consistently protested against the U.S. presence on Cuban soil and called it illegal under
international law, alleging that the
military base was imposed on Cuba by force. At the
United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013, Cuba's Foreign Minister demanded the U.S. return the base and the "usurped territory", which the Cuban government considers to be occupied since the U.S. invasion of Cuba during the
Spanish–American War in 1898.