Castro: Cuba's communist path won't change

Three men who served long US prison terms for spying have received a standing ovation in Cuba’s parliament, as President Raul Castro declared that detente with Washington will not change the communist system he leads.

The last imprisoned members of the Cuban Five spy ring were freed this week in a sweeping deal that included the liberation of American contractor Alan Gross and a Cuban spy for the US from their jail cells in Cuba, and pledges to restore full diplomatic relations and loosen US restrictions on trade and travel to the island.