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MEXICO CITY (AP) ― Cuban President Raul Castro says his government is willing to discuss "everything" with Washington, including human rights, political prisoners and freedom of the press.

Castro says Havana has "sent word to the U.S. government in private and in public" that it is open to talking about anything, as long as it's "on equal terms."

His comments came Thursday during a speech to leaders at a summit hosted by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

Castro spoke hours after President Barack Obama said he wants Havana to make the next move to improve U.S.-Cuba relations.

He did not specifically mention Obama's comments.

President Obama said earlier Thursday that he needs to see signs of changes on the island before he makes any more overtures.

Obama already has lifted restrictions on visits and money sent to Cuba by Americans with families there — steps he called "extraordinarily significant" for those families, and a show of good faith by the U.S. government that it wants to recast the relationship.

But he reiterated that the U.S. won't unilaterally end its trade embargo against Cuba, even though the policy is widely seen as a failure that has complicated U.S. relations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Obama said a relationship frozen for 50 years "won't thaw overnight," and that Cuba can show it wants to move forward by lifting its own restrictions on Cubans' ability to travel and to voice their opinions.

Castro was in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez and other close allies were planning to show a united front in their first encounter with Obama on Friday at the Summit of the Americas.

Chavez called the U.S. position a "show of disrespect."

"If that's the way it is, what more can we expect from the rest? Nothing," Chavez said. "I hope we're wrong, but they'll be the ones who will have to show us — not with tales and speeches."

Obama spoke at a news conference after meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who called the U.S. embargo a failed strategy. Asked what the U.S. should do on Cuba to improve its image across Latin America, Calderon said "we do not believe that the embargo or the isolation of Cuba is a good measure for things to change."

But Obama says Cuba needs to reciprocate to his overtures with actions "grounded in respect for human rights."

A similar message was sent by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Haiti earlier Thursday.

"We stand ready to discuss with Cuba additional steps that could be taken," she said. "But we do expect Cuba to reciprocate."

"We would like to see Cuba open up its society, release political prisoners, open up to outside opinions and media, have the kind of society that we all know that would improve the opportunities for the Cuban people and for their nation," she said.

Leaders of 34 nations are making their way to Trinidad and Tobago for the summit, a gathering of democracies where communist Cuba is not invited. That rankles several of the leaders — not only close ally Chavez but also people like Haitian President Rene Preval, who has had warm relations with the Castro government and received medical treatment on the island.

He told reporters that he hopes Cuba will be able to attend the next summit, and that "Cuba is a friend of Haiti even though we have different political systems."

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