'Peace between us,' Raul Castro says of US ties
Castro waves during the family photo of the III CELAC Summit 2015, in the Pedregal building, 20km northwest of San Jose, on Jan 28, 2015. - AFP Photo/Rodrigo Arangua
Cuban President Raul Castro gave an endorsement to peace between the United States and his communist country Thursday, with the two nations in talks to restore ties after decades of animosity.
Asked by a journalist at a summit of Latin American and Caribbean states what he would most like to see after the US economic embargo of Cuba is lifted, Castro barked: "Peace, peace between us, peace between the United States and us.
"Living peacefully, as it should be on the continent."
Castro first said he would have to consider the question because the end of the economic embargo may be a long way away. But he changed his mind as he was about to exit the summit in Costa Rica.
US and Cuban diplomats met last week in Havana in landmark talks aimed at renewing ties that broke off in 1961.
Speaking earlier at the meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Castro said the path to renewal would be "long and hard."
Other participants at the summit strongly endorsed the warming of ties between the US and Cuba.
US President Barack Obama used his executive powers to ease travel and trade restrictions with Cuba after a surprise announcement last month about ending tensions with the island.
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