Washington ( CNN ) Just over a month after the release of American aid worker Alan Gross from a Cuban prison ushered in a new era between Washington and Havana , the relationship is facing a new chill . Speaking at a summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders Wednesday , Cuban President Raul Castro made some big demands of the United States . Among them , Castro asked for the return of the Guantanamo Naval Base to Cuba , an end to the five decades-old trade embargo , a ceasing of U.S.-run television and radio broadcasts on the island , and compensation for economic damages . `` The economic , commercial and financial blockade that provokes enormous human and economic damage is a violation of international law that ought to be overturned , '' Castro said . The White House Thursday dismissed Castro 's demands . When asked whether the U.S. would actually return the Guantanamo base to Cuba , Press Secretary Josh Earnest responded with an abrupt `` No . '' `` The naval base is not something that we believe should be closed , '' he said , adding that the U.S. would keep the base even after the prison has been emptied . The comments were somewhat of a reality check for an administration attempting to navigate a relationship weighed down by decades of mistrust . It may take more time than originally expected . `` What ( Castro 's ) comments highlight is that there is a pretty clear difference between reestablishing diplomatic relations and carrying out the longer process of normalizing relations , '' Earnest said . But as the Cuba Study Group 's Tomas Bilbao notes , Castro 's audience has to be taken into consideration . `` This is a speech that Raul Castro was giving in front of the CELAC to several of his regional friends , Venezuela , Bolivia , Ecuador , people who may feel challenged by Cuba and the United States reengaging their relationship , '' Bilbao said . He added : `` The Cuban government has long benefited from a position of confrontation with the United States , and as President Obama 's policies take away a lot of those excuses , I think we 'll see the Castro government come up and rehash some of these talking points to be able to continue to feed that ever-diminishing credibility of that argument . '' So as Castro feeds the beast , do n't expect the United States to give in to Cuba 's demands . `` We should n't be derailed by the fact that we 're dealing with a difficult totalitarian government and if we allow the Cuban government to determine what steps we do or do not take , we 're in essence putting our foreign policy in the hands of a totalitarian state , '' Bilbao said .
Cuban President Alejandro Castro is demanding the U.S. leave Guantanamo Bay . White House press secretary denies such demands .