Havana, March 9 (RHC)-- Cuba's Granma newspaper notes that lifting Washington's economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba is essential towards normalizing U.S.-Cuba relations. An editorial in Wednesday's edition of the paper touches on the upcoming visit to Cuba by U.S. President Barack Obama in the framework of the new rapprochement between Havana and Washington.

Granma insists that the U.S. blockade is the main cause of the acute hardships the Cuban people have had to endure for over half a century, and the principal obstacle to Cuba's development.

The editorial states that the two neighboring countries should work together for the benefit of their two peoples, the region and the world, with full respect for their differences. It asserts Cuba's willingness to advance relations with the United States based on strict compliance with principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the proclamation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which declared Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace.

Wednesday's editorial also urges the resolution of other pending bilateral issues, which undermine Cuba's sovereignty. It mentions, for instance, the return to Cuba of the territory illegally occupied by the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo, an end to Washington's subversive actions to try to destabilize the country and bring about 'regime change.'

The Granma editorial concludes by confirming Cuba's willingness to have respectful, civilized relations with its powerful neighbor to the north and says that Cuba will offer a respectful welcome to President Obama.