At U.N., Castro says U.S. must end embargo to have normal Cuba ties
Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Cuba and the United States can normalize ties only after Washington ends its trade embargo and returns the Guantanamo U.S. naval base to Cuban control, President Raul Castro told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.
In the first speech at the U.N. by a Cuban president since his older brother Fidel addressed the Millennium Summit in 2000, Castro said his countrymen must be "compensated" for the decades-old U.S. embargo if relations between the former Cold War enemies are to continue to improve.
He and U.S. President Barack Obama stunned the world last December by announcing detente after more than decades of animosity. On July 20, the United States and Cuba restored diplomatic relations after a break of 54 years.
"Now, a long and complex process begins toward the normalization of relations that will only be achieved with the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade," said Castro, 84, who had never before spoken to the General Assembly.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-castro-says-u-must-end-embargo-210557159.html
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