RICARDO Alarcón, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, affirmed today that not only must the prison on the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo, Cuba, be shut down, but that that territory illegally occupied by the United States must also be returned.

"What must be demanded, of course, is that the torture center is shut down; even Bush (U.S. president) has said that he is in favor of closing it down, but what is more important is that they return it," Alarcón told journalists, after being asked about the European Parliament resolutions in favor of its closure, EFE reports.

The EP has issued two resolutions asking for the closure of the detention center on the base, most recently on June 13, and stating that the prison is a violation of the rule of law, international law and human rights regulations.

The Cuban parliamentary leader noted that "while torture has been committed there, and the base has been converted into what it has become, unfortunately that is because that piece of our national territory has been usurped for more than a century."