Cuba’s President Raul Castro addressed the country’s relations with the United States during his year-end speech in parliament. <br /><br />Castro told parliament: “We’re not asking the US to change its political or social systems and we don’t accept negotiating on ours.<br /><br />“If we really wish to make advances in our bilateral relations, we will have to learn to mutually respect our differences and get accustomed to living peacefully with them.<br /><br />“Any other way and we’re willing to withstand another 55 years in the same situation.”<br /><br />The speech came a week and a half after Castro and US President Barack Obama shook hands at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in South Africa. <br /><br />The gesture sparked a flurry of speculation, but both sides played down any political significance.<br /><br />The US severed diplomatic ties with Communist Cuba in 1961 and introduced a trade embargo that remains in place today.
