Editing Platt Amendment (section)

==Provisions of the amendment==
[[File:Platt amendment page 1.jpg|thumb|Platt Amendment, p. 1.]]
[[File:Platt amendment page 2.jpg|thumb|Platt Amendment, p. 2.]]
The Platt Amendment was introduced to Congress by Senator [[Orville H. Platt]] on February 25, 1901.<ref>{{cite book|title=Neighborly Adversaries 3rd edition|last=LaRosa, Michael|first=O. Mora, Frank|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2015|location=Boulder|pages=105}}</ref> It passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 43 to 20, and although it was 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 1901 Cuban Constitution.<ref name="schoultz" /> 

The Platt Amendment outlined the role of the United States in Cuba and the Caribbean, limiting Cuba's right to make treaties with other nations and restricting Cuba in the conduct of foreign policy and commercial relations.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=55|title=Platt Amendment 1903|date=1903|website=Our Documents|access-date=24 January 2020}}</ref> It also 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, and that Cuba must sell or lease lands to the United States necessary for coaling or the development of naval stations.<ref name=":2" />

It read:
{{Quote|Preamble: For the recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect, the President is hereby authorized to "leave the government and control of the island of Cuba to its people" so soon as a government shall have been established in said island under a constitution which, either as a part thereof or in an ordinance appended thereto, shall define the future relations of the United States with Cuba.

I. That the government of Cuba shall never enter into any treaty or other compact with any foreign power or powers which will impair or tend to impair the independence of Cuba, nor in any manner authorize or permit any foreign power or powers to obtain by colonization or for military or naval purposes or otherwise, lodgement in or control over any portion of said island.

II. That said government shall not assume or contract any public debt, to pay the interest upon which, and to make reasonable sinking fund provision for the ultimate discharge of which, the ordinary revenues of the island, after defraying the current expenses of government shall be inadequate.

III. That the government of Cuba consents that the United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|treaty of Paris]] on the United States, now to be assumed and undertaken by the government of Cuba.

IV. That all Acts of the United States in Cuba during its military occupancy thereof are ratified and validated, and all lawful rights acquired thereunder shall be maintained and protected.

V. That the government of Cuba will execute, and as far as necessary extend, the plans already devised or other plans to be mutually agreed upon, for the sanitation of the cities of the island, to the end that a recurrence of epidemic and infectious diseases may be prevented, thereby assuring protection to the people and commerce of Cuba, as well as to the commerce of the southern ports of the United States and the people residing therein.

VI. That the [[Isla de la Juventud|Isle of Pines]] shall be omitted from the proposed constitutional boundaries of Cuba, the title thereto being left to future adjustment by treaty.

VII. That to enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the government of Cuba will sell or lease to the United States lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.

VIII. That by way of further assurance the government of Cuba will embody the foregoing provisions in a permanent treaty with the United States.|author=|title=|source=}}

After [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] withdrew American troops from the island in 1902, Cuba signed the [[Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1903)|treaty]] the next year after which Cuba executed a lease of land to the United States for a [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|coaling and naval station at Guantánamo Bay]].<ref name=":2" /> Originally the U.S. would have been able to build four military bases, but Cuba managed to negotiate this down to two, those being Guantanamo and Bahia Honda, which was traded in 1912 for more land at Guantanamo.<ref name="schoultz" /> This was a surprise given that Secretary Root had indicated his wish for the U.S. to become the owner and enforcer of Cuba's waterfront while the Platt Amendment was being drafted.<ref name="schoultz" />