Cuba's Raul Castro: If US Really Wants Normal Relations, It Must Give Back Guantanamo Base

In order to achieve fully normalized relations, the United States must return the base at Guantánamo Bay to Cuba, the island nation’s President Raul Castro said Wednesday.

The remarks follow a historic restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries that began in December.

Speaking at the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Costa Rica, Castro also called for an end to the embargo and for Cuba to be taken off the list of state sponsors of terror.

“The re-establishment of diplomatic relations is the beginning of a process toward the normalization of bilateral relations, but this will not be possible while the blockade remains in effect; the territory illegally occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base is not returned; the radio and television broadcasts breaching international rules and regulations do not cease; and adequate compensation is not paid to our people for the human and economic damages sustained,” Castro said.

“If these issues are not resolved, a diplomatic rapprochement between Cuba and the United States would not make sense,” he said.