
Cuban President Raul Castro demanded on Wednesday that the United States return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.

US and Cuban officials launched historic talks to shed their Cold War-era hostility on Wednesday, complimenting each other on the first day's progress despite persistent differences over migration policy.

The United States government on Friday will begin making it easier for Americans to travel to Cuba than it has been for more than half a century, opening the door to a new era of contact between neighbors that have been estranged longer than most of their citizens have been alive.
![The embargo has almost certainly helped keep the Castro brothers [Fidel and Raul] in power for the last five decades.](/data/cache/noticias/48465/260x165/fidel-y-raul-castro.jpg)
By Robert F Kennedy Jr. (*) - In early December, President Barack Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than five decades of a misguided policy which my uncle, John F. Kennedy, and my father, Robert F. Kennedy, had been responsible for enforcing after the U.S. embargo against the country was first implemented in October 1960 by the Eisenhower administration.

Analysts agree that the Venezuelan president will need to put aside some of his anti-imperialist jargon and socialist practices to stay in play.

The role played by Uruguay's President in the process which led to Wednesday's announcements that the United States and Cuba are to restore full diplomatic ties, was praised by Presidents Barack Obama, Raul Castro and international analysts.

The first Latin American pope in history sent letters to Obama, Raúl Castro and brokered negotiations which ended up in Wednesday's announcement that both countries are to resume full ties.

Presidents Obama and Castro finalize details over the telephone, make announcement. US restrictions require Congressional approval to be fully lifted. Alan Gross released. Other swaps ensue.

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today welcomed the “historic announcement” made by the Presidents of Cuba and the United States, Raúl Castro and Barack Obama, of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, as well as the re-opening of embassies in Washington and Havana, the lifting of certain commercial restrictions and the beginning of new paths for cooperation on issues of mutual interest, among other measures.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ended on Wednesday an eight-day trip through Latin America with a visit to eastern Cuba, where both the island's independence struggle against Spain and Fidel Castro's revolution began.