Raul Castro Makes His Demands

Cuban President Raul Castro appears ready to drive the proverbial hard bargain when dealing with President Obama's effort to improve diplomatic relations between their two countries.  From the Marine Corps Times via Gateway Pundit:

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.

Castro told a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that Cuba and the U.S. are working toward full diplomatic relations but "if these problems aren't resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement wouldn't make any sense."

Read the full story.  Some background information:

According to Wiki, the Guantanamo naval base has been leased by the U.S. under a treaty with Cuba signed in 1903.  Just after the revolution which brought Fidel Castro to power, the Cuban government cashed one rent check, but has cashed none since.  The embargo, as pointed out in Frontpage Mag by Humberto Fontova in 2010, does not prevent Cuba from buying American products, but merely requires the Castro government to "pay cash up front" for its purchases.

UPDATE:  In a more recent Frontpage Mag article, Fontova again weighs in.