White House Told Cuba Handing Back Gitmo Naval Base ‘Not on the Table’

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States made clear to Cuba it will not hand over the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said during a press conference.

"They [the Cuban government] obviously believe that… just our very presence in Guantanamo is a violation of their sovereignty, and that we should restore the facility to Cuban sovereignty," Rhodes stated on Monday. "We've made very clear that that's not on the table."

Rhodes noted that Washington’s focus was still on closing the detention center housed at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, although Cuba is expected to continue to raise the issue of handing back the naval base.

Earlier on Monday, Cuban President Raul Castro demanded that the United States return the Guantanamo Bay naval base and lift the decades old embargo on Havana. US President Barack Obama, who was visiting Havana, admitted that the relationship between the two countries would not be transformed overnight.

Last month, the Obama administration laid out a plan detailing how it would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay that houses suspected and actual terrorists. Under the plan, a majority of the remaining prisoners would be transferred to the United States and to foreign countries.

Despite a likely closure of the detention facility by the time Obama leaves office after the US presidential elections in November, the White House and senior officials like Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter have reiterated that the United States will not hand back the naval base at Guantanamo Bay back to Cuba.