Platt Amendment in the context of Army Appropriations Act of 1901

The Republic of Cuba (Spanish: República de Cuba), covering the historical period in Cuban history between 1902 and 1959, was an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de Pinos (after 1925) and several minor archipelagos. The period began in 1902 following the end of its first U.S. military occupation years after Cuba declared independence in 1898 from the Spanish Empire. This era included various changing governments and U.S. military occupations, and ended with the outbreak of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. During this period, the United States exerted great influence on Cuban politics, notably through the Platt Amendment.

The governments of Cuba between independence from Spain and the Revolution have been regarded as client state of the United States. From 1902 to 1934, Cuban and U.S. law included the Platt Amendment, which guaranteed the United States right to intervene in Cuba and placed restrictions on Cuban foreign relations. In 1934, Cuba and the United States signed the Treaty of Relations in which Cuba was obligated to give preferential treatment of its economy to the United States, in exchange the United States gave Cuba a guaranteed 22 percent share of the U.S. sugar market that later was amended to a 49 percent share in 1949.

The Bryan–Chamorro Treaty was signed between Nicaragua and the United States on August 5, 1914. It gave the United States full rights over any future canal built through Nicaragua. The Wilson administration changed the treaty by adding a provision similar in language to that of the Platt Amendment, which would have authorized military intervention in Nicaragua. The United States Senate opposed the new provision; in response, it was dropped, and the treaty was formally ratified on June 19, 1916. Eventually, the United States recognized that the canal was unlikely, and at the request of Nicaragua in 1970, the two nations officially abolished the treaty and all its provisions.