President points to obstacles in US ties

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

Castro made the remark while addressing the third Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Belen, Costa Rica.

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