The US must return the territory it holds at Guantanamo Bay, Cuban President Raul Castro told a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States on Wednesday.

He also said that Washington must lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.

Although Cuba and the US are working toward full diplomatic relations, Mr Castro insisted that “if these problems aren’t resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement wouldn’t make any sense.”

He and US President Barack Obama announced on December 17 that they would move toward renewing full diplomatic relations by reopening embassies in each other’s countries.

The two governments held negotiations in Havana last week to discuss the embassies and re-establishment of normal relations.

Cuba has said it welcomes the measures but the government has increasingly linked the negotiations to demands that include an end to US support for dissidents and Cuba’s removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The US established the military base at Guantanamo in 1903 and the Cuban government has been demanding the land’s return since the 1959 revolution.

Cuba also wants the US to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for losses caused by the embargo.

“The re-establishment of diplomatic relations … will not be possible while the blockade still exists, while they don’t give back the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo naval base,” Mr Castro said.

He also demanded that the US end the transmission of hostile radio and television broadcasts and deliver “just compensation to our people for the human and economic damage that they’ve suffered.”

Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Venezuela all supported the end of the embargo.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff also praised the effort by the leaders of Cuba and the US to improve relations.

“The two heads of state deserve our recognition for the decision they made — beneficial for Cubans and Americans, but, most of all, for the entire continent,” she said.