How the US gained control of Guantanamo Bay

The United States and Cuba have had a tense relationship over the past 55 years. While things have gradually gotten better, it wasn't until recently that Americans were able to legally travel to the communist country. Yet, the U.S. has controlled the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base on the southeastern coast of Cuba since 1898.

The U.S. first seized the land during the Spanish-American War in the Battle of Guantanamo Bay. A year after Cuba gained independence in 1902, the two nations signed a treaty granting the U.S. permission to use the land as a naval base. In 1934, the two countries signed another treaty, this one giving the U.S. a perpetual lease that could only be voided by a mutual agreement.

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After Fidel Castro took control of Cuba, he tried to kick the U.S. off the land, but he understood it would only give the United States a reason to attack. Instead, he cut off the water supply, which led the U.S. to build its own water and power plants.

In the decades since, Guantanamo Bay was as an antisubmarine center and a refugee camp for Haitians and Cubans seeking asylum. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, it became a detainment camp for suspected terrorists and individuals who the United States believed could be a threat to national security.

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The detainment center was instantly controversial. Members of congress and the European Union, and organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch all protested the legal status and treatment of detainees. In 2009, President Barack Obama announced he would close the prison camp within a year. But nearly six years later, the camp remains open, with approximately 116 detainees remaining, according to a New York Times analysis.

As relations between Cuba and the United States begin to thaw and detainees are released, it's likely the U.S. naval base won't be going anywhere.

See more images from the controversial base: