Detente won’t change the system

HAVANA — Cuban President Raul Castro sent a blunt message to Washington Saturday as the White House works to reverse a half-century of hostility between the U S and Cuba: Don’t expect detente to do away with the communist system

Castro’s speech to Cuba’s National Assembly was a sharp counterpoint to the message U S President Barack Obama gave in his year-end news conference the day before Obama reiterated that by engaging directly with the Cuban people, Americans are more likely to encourage reform in Cuba’s one-party system and centrally planned economy

“We must not expect that in order for relations with the United States to improve, Cuba will abandon the ideas that it has struggled for,” Castro said

Also appearing before parliament, shaking their fists in victory, were three convicted spies just released from long U S prison terms The last imprisoned members of the “Cuban Five” spy ring were freed this week in a sweeping deal that included American contractor Alan Gross and a Cuban who had spied for the U S , both released from their cells in Cuba as a first step toward the restoration of full diplomatic ties and a loosening of U S trade and travel restrictions

While the 83-year-old Castro spoke in Havana, other Cubans of his generation were leading a protest in Miami against plans to normalize relations with the Castro government About 200 people showed up, most of them older Cuban exiles