At UN, Raul Castro says US must end embargo to have normal Cuba ties

New York: Cuban President Raul Castro told the U.N. General Assembly on Monday that normal relations with the United States would only be possible if Washington ended its trade embargo on his country, returned the military base at Guantanamo and ended anti-communist broadcasts beamed into the island.

With diplomatic ties now restored, overall normal relations "will only be achieved with the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba; the return to our country of the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base; the cessation of radio and TV broadcasts, and of subversion and destabilisation programs against the island; and when our people are compensated for the human and economic damages they still endure," Castro said in his first address ever to the United Nations. 

Castro received sustained applause.