Peaceful Solutions
There is an international law obligation to negotiate, and pursuant to article 2, paragraph 3, of the United Nations Charter, disputes must be settled by peaceful means. Thus, it would appear appropriate to submit the various issues in dispute to binding arbitration, or to adjudication by the International Court of Justice, if indeed the disputes cannot be settled through bi-lateral negotiation.
Any such tribunal would have to interpret the meaning of the term "sovereignty," as it appears in article 3 of the 1903 lease agreement. Yet another term requiring interpretation, is the word "continued," since the agreement provides for the "continued ultimate sovereignty" of Cuba. The question is thus whether sovereignty can be trumped by virtue of a lease agreement that does not state a specific date of termination. Many international lawyers believe that the possibility of termination must be interpreted into such agreements. Even the Panama Canal Treaty of 1903 that provided for transfer of "sovereignty" to the United States "in perpetuity," required renegotiation and ended in 1977.
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