Castro demands that the United States return Guantanamo

Cuba demanded that the US return to the Guantanamo military base - according to the Cuban authorities, this is one of the conditions for the normalization of relations between the two countries.

Cuban President Raul Castro also called on Washington to lift the trade embargo and exclude Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

Last December, the United States and Cuba announced the restoration of diplomatic relations that were severed in 1961.

A few days ago, a delegation of the US Congress arrived in Havana to negotiate the opening of embassies.

Meanwhile, the Cuban state newspaper published a letter from Fidel Castro, which said, in part: “We will always maintain cooperation and friendship with all people on earth, including our political opponents.”

Political scientists consider this phrase as a signal of approval of the current warming of relations with the United States by the leader of the Cuban revolution.

According to Fidel, he “does not trust US policy,” but this does not mean that he rejects a “peaceful solution to the conflict.”

"Start of the process"

Fidel's brother, Raul, who became head of state in 2008, voiced his demands on the United States during the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Costa Rica.

“The restoration of diplomatic ties is the beginning of the process of normalization of bilateral relations. But this process is impossible as long as there is a blockade, until they give us the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo naval base,” said Raul Castro.

In 1903, the land on which the Guantanamo base stands, the then Cuban authorities handed over to the US government a long-term lease.

American officials have not yet commented on the words of President Castro.

Earlier, US President Barack Obama called on Congress to completely abolish the trade embargo imposed by Washington on Cuba in 1962.

In January of this year, Obama with his power ordered to ease trade bans and restrictions on travel to Cuba in respect of Cuba, writes AmericaRu.com