Castro Demands U.S. Hand Back Guantanamo Bay and End Trade Embargo

Cuban President Raul Castro has demanded that the United States hand back its Guantanamo Bay military base before full diplomatic relations between the countries can be restored.

Castro also asked for a complete lifting of the decades-old trade embargo and for compensation for its effects, saying that without these changes the recent diplomatic thaw “wouldn’t make any sense.”

President Barack Obama pledged earlier this month that the White House would move quickly to restore ties with Havana, scrapping a slew of travel and economic restrictions with immediate effect and dispatching a U.S. delegation to Cuba for a first round of historic talks.

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