
During U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba this week, he pushed Cuba to improve its record on human rights and sparred with President Raul Castro, while Castro hit back by decrying U.S. "double standards."

The Communist-led island frequently criticizes the United States on subjects such as racism, violence and the prison the United States maintains at its naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Here, a soldier shows an arrow that points to Mecca inside a cell at Guantanamo.

Human rights remained an impediment to strengthening ties with Cuba despite the rapprochement reached by the two leaders in December 2014, Obama said, adding a "full flowering" of the relationship could happen only with progress on the issue. Castro offered Cuba's recipe for better relations - saying the two countries could achieve much better ties if the United States lifted its 54-year-old trade embargo on the island and handed back the Guantanamo base to Cuba.

1 / 15 Slideshow The United States flag flies at Guantanamo. A soldier attached to Guantanamo briefs visiting members of the media. Items not allowed to be brought inside Guantanamo sit in a locker. A soldier monitors a detainee closing a gate within a cell block. An empty cell block is pictured. DVDs that can be borrowed by detainees are seen on a shelf. A soldier puts on rubber gloves before interacting with detainees. Improvised weapons are displayed on a wall. Soldiers are reflected in a window. A pain chart with writing in Arabic hangs on the wall. Medicines stand on shelves inside Guantanamo's detainee hospital. Soldiers attached to Guantanamo brief visiting members of the media. Soldiers attached to Joint Task Force Guantanamo relax on a beach inside the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo. Soldiers and members of the media stand outside a hanger inside Guantanamo. Chain link fence and concertina wire surrounds a deserted guard tower within Guantanamo.

For decades, Obama's trip would have been unthinkable. It became possible after secret talks led to a 2014 agreement to normalize relations between the two Cold War-era foes. Obama has urged Congress to rescind the economic embargo but has been rejected by the Republican leadership. He had both Democratic and Republican elected officials with him on his Cuba trip and hopes Congress may act after the November 8 presidential election. Colour copies of detainee artwork hang on a wall.