Spotlight: Cuban leader points out obstacles to mending ties with U.S.

Cuban leader Raul Castro said Wednesday that the United States should clear some obstacles between the two countries before they can really embark on the restoration of diplomatic relations.

Castro made the remarks when addressing the third Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), being held in Belen, Costa Rica.

In the address, he laid out the conditions to normalize ties with the United States, demanding that Washington first lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba, return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, compensate his country for damages, and remove Havana from a terror list.

OBSTACLES STILL REMAIN

The Cuban leader issued his demands a week after the highest-ranking U.S. delegation to Havana in 35 years and Cuban officials held landmark talks aimed at reopening embassies and renewing relations that broke off more than half a century ago.

He called the U.S. trade embargo the main stumbling block to normalizing ties between the two nations, according to Cuba's official daily Granma.

"The process toward normalizing ties will not be possible as long as the embargo exists," he said.

Castro also listed other obstacles to a rapprochement, including Washington's refusal to "return the Guantanamo Naval Base (to Cuba), stop radio and television broadcasts that violate international law, and provide fair compensation for the human and economic harm the country has suffered."

"If these problems are not resolved, the diplomatic rapprochement between Cuba and the United States would make no sense," he was quoted as saying.

Cuba and the United States announced in December their decision to normalize ties after more than 50 years of hostility. During a televised broadcast, U.S. President Barack Obama said his administration decided to change track following half a century of a failed policy to isolate Cuba, and engage with the Communist-ruled nation instead.

Obama said the next step would be the opening of embassies in their respective capitals, but stressed only the U.S. Congress has the power to lift the embargo.

Castro reiterated at the summit that the embargo remains the single biggest obstacle to mending ties.

The embargo "aimed to generate hunger, desperation and suffering to succeed in overthrowing the government" of Cuba, daily Granma cited Castro as saying.

WARNING AGAINST MEDDLING IN INTERNAL AFFAIRS

On U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson's meeting with Cuban dissidents during her historic visit last week, Castro said Cuba will not accept any interference from the United States in its internal affairs.

"Everything appears to indicate that the aim is to foment an artificial political opposition via economic, political and communicational means," he told the CELAC summit.

However, he made it clear that he was committed to the talks despite his concern that Washington might try to stir up internal opposition within Cuba through greater telecommunications access and the Internet.

Castro said the Cuban delegation outlined the conditions when meeting Jacobson and other U.S. officials last week, adding that more talks will take place to deal with these issues.

"We shared with the U.S. president our willingness to advance toward the normalization of bilateral relations once diplomatic relations are restored, which implies taking mutual measures to improve the atmosphere between both countries," said the Cuban leader.

Castro's remarks came one day after U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said her country welcomed former Cuban leader Fidel Castro's first public comments about the restoration of U.S.-Cuban diplomatic relations.

"We take his reference of international norms and principles as a positive sign and look forward to the Cuban government implementing those international norms and principles for a democratic, prosperous and stable Cuba," she said at a regular press conference.

In an article published by Granma Tuesday, the elder Castro wrote that he does not trust the U.S. policies, but that does not mean a rejection to a peaceful solution of conflicts and dangers of war.

In response to the former Cuban leader's stated lack of trust in Washington, Psaki said mutual lack of trust did exist between the two Cold War foes. "But we're working to build that trust."

It is the first time the elder Castro, who retired from politics in 2008 due to poor health, openly spoke of the announcement of restoring Cuban-U.S. diplomatic relations made by his younger brother and Obama on Dec. 17.

According to Psaki, the next round of the meeting in Washington between the two countries' delegations is on the agenda, but the exact date is yet to be decided. Endi