Obama To Visit Cuba Next Month

“What I’ve said to the Cuban government is “if, in fact, I, with confidence, can say that we’re seeing some progress in the liberty and freedom and possibilities of ordinary Cubans, I’d love to use a visit as a way of highlighting that progress.’ If we’re going backwards, then there’s not much reason for me to be there”.

But Mr Obama, facing steadfast opposition to normalised relations from Republicans and some Democrats, has been unable to deliver on Cuba’s s biggest request: the lifting of the USA economic embargo.

In December 2014, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced plans to resume diplomatic relations and a prisoner swap following secret Vatican-brokered talks.

Meanwhile, the news that President Barack Obama will visit Cuba next month isn’t sitting well with Americans who’ve been opposed to normalizing ties with the communist country.

Noting that the U.S.-Cuba rapprochement also has boosted relations with other Latin American nations, Rhodes said that immediately following Obama’s trip to Cuba, he will visit Argentina in hopes of beginning “a new chapter of improved relations” there as well.

“For Cubans accustomed to watching their government sputter down the last mile of socialism in a ’57 Chevy, imagine what they’ll think when they see Air Force One”, Flake said. “America will always stand for human rights around the world”, Obama wrote.

Last August, Secretary of State John Kerry took part in a ceremonial flag raising in Havana to mark the end of the freeze between the US and Cuba.

Obama has undertaken many changes using his executive powers, and he indicated in the interview that he would continue looking at ways to do so in 2016. (Former US President Jimmy Carter visited Cuba in 2011).

Obama, now in his final year in office, will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro, entrepreneurs, and “Cubans from different walks of life” during the March 21 and 22 visit, the White House said.

The Havana visit is likely to spark debate on Cuba policy in the campaign for the Nov 8 USA presidential election, particularly in the swing voting state of Florida, where many anti-Castro Cuban-Americans live. “We want to open up more opportunities for USA businesses and travelers to engage with Cuba, and we want the Cuban government to open up more opportunities for its people to benefit from that engagement”.

The visit was first reported Wednesday by ABC News.

On Tuesday the two nations signed an agreement to restore scheduled commercial air service for the first time in decades as early as later this year. Currently, there are about one-fifth as many flights operating between the two countries – all charters.

The previous serving USA president to visit Cuba was Calvin Coolidge in January 1928.