Raul Castro repeats U.S. talks offer

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro repeated on Wednesday an offer to discuss "everything" with the United States to try to improve relations, but said Cuba did not have to make any "gestures" to its long-time enemy.

"We have reiterated that we are willing to talk about everything with the United States, in equality of conditions, but not to negotiate our sovereignty, nor our political and social system, the right to self-determination, nor our internal affairs," he said in a speech to a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement.

"Cuba has not imposed sanctions against the United States ... and therefore it is not Cuba that has to make gestures," he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this month eased the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba by removing limits on Cuban American travel to the communist-ruled island.

But Obama said he wanted to see "signals" from Cuba on such issues as freeing political prisoners and improving human rights to be able to move to normalize relations.

Castro has offered wide-ranging talks with the U.S. before.

The last time was on April 16, when he said discussion topics could include political prisoners -- whom Cuba views as "mercenaries" in the service of the United States -- as well as democracy and freedom of the press.

The Obama administration greeted the April 16 comments as an important gesture, but Raul Castro's older brother, former leader Fidel Castro, wrote a few days later that the words had been "misinterpreted" and indicated Cuba had no intention of making concessions to Washington.

Cuban and U.S. officials have begun informal talks in Washington to explore ways of improving relations that have been hostile since Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution and transformed Cuba into a communist state.