(VOVworld) – Cuban President Raúl Castro said Cuba and the US are entering a new era as they prepare to resume diplomatic relations next week, but insisted more changes in American policy towards Cuba are necessary.

Cuba’s President Raul Castro addresses the National Assembly in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, July 15, 2015. (Photo: AP)

Addressing Cuba’s National Assembly in Havana on Wednesday, Castro acknowledged US President Barack Obama’s call for a debate on lifting the US’s 50-year trade embargo against Cuba.
He also demanded the return of the US military base at Guantanamo, compensation for economic damage from the embargo, an end to US broadcasts beamed at the island, and a halt to "programmes that aim to promote subversion and destabilisation.”