Platt Amendment

The Platt Amendment of 1901 was an amendment to the military appropriations bill, constrained by the earlier Teller Amendment that forbade annexation of Cuba. It dictated the conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba at the end of the Spanish-American War and defined the terms of Cuban-U.S. relations, until it was abrogated by the 1934 Treaty of Relations. The Amendment, whose clauses were incorporated into the 1903 Treaty of Relations verbatim, allowed unilateral U.S. involvement in Cuban affairs and mandated negotiation for military bases on the island including Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

Background
During the Spanish-American War, the United States maintained a large military arsenal in Cuba to protect U.S. holdings and to mediate Spanish-Cuban relations. In 1899, the McKinley administration settled on occupation as its response to the appearance of a revolutionary government in Cuba following the end of Spanish control.

In an effort to turn Cuba into a "self-governing colony", the United States established fighters to maintain public order. American General Leonard Wood used the financial resources of the Cuban treasury to create sanitation systems. Franchisement and voting rights were extended to literate, adult, male Cubans with property worth $250 or more, largely resulting in exclusion of the Afro-Cuban population from participation.

Conditions of the Amendment
The Platt Amendment was introduced to Congress by Senator Orville H. Platt on February 25, 1901. It passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 43 to 20. Though initially rejected by the Cuban assembly, the amendment was eventually accepted by a vote of 16 to 11 with four abstentions and integrated into the 1902 Cuban Constitution.

The Platt Amendment outlined the role of the U.S. in Cuba and the Caribbean. It restricted Cuba in the conduct of foreign policy and commercial relations. It established that Cuba's boundaries would not include the Isle of Pines (Isla de la Juventud) until its title could be established in a future treaty. The amendment also demanded that Cuba sell or lease lands to the United States necessary for coaling or the development of naval stations. After U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt withdrew federal troops from the island in 1902, Cuba signed the Cuban-American Treaty (1903), which specified the terms of a lease of land to the United States for a coaling and naval station at Guantánamo Bay.

Aftermath
Following acceptance of the amendment, the United States ratified a tariff that gave Cuban sugar preference in the U.S. market and protection to select U.S. products in the Cuban market. Tomás Estrada Palma, who had once favored outright annexation of Cuba by the United States, became president of Cuba on May 20, 1902.

Most of the Platt Amendment provisions were repealed in 1934 when the Treaty of Relations between the U.S. and Cuba was negotiated as a part of U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor policy" toward Latin America. José Manuel Cortina and other members of the Cuban Constitutional Convention of 1940 eliminated the Platt Amendment from the new Cuban constitution.

The long-term lease of Guantánamo Bay continues. The Cuban government under Castro has strongly denounced the treaty as a violation of article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which declares a treaty void if procured by the threat or use of force. However, article 4 of the Vienna Convention states that its provisions shall not be applied retroactively.

References in Pop Culture
The Platt Amendment is incorrectly referenced as being a 1906 amendment to the United States Constitution in the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The movie also incorrectly refers to the senator originating the legislation as "John Platt".