US President Obama to visit Cuba in late March
US President Barack Obama will pay a landmark visit to Cuba next month to enhance ties with the former Cold War adversary, the White House says.
The White House, making the announcement on Thursday, said Obama is set to visit Cuba on March 21 and 22 to be the first US president stepping foot on the island to pursue a historic thaw after nearly a century. The last sitting US president to visit Cuba was Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
"Next month, I'll travel to Cuba to advance our progress and efforts that can improve the lives of the Cuban people," Obama said.
"We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise directly. America will always stand for human rights around the world," he added.
The White House hopes that the trip will be a "Berlin Wall" moment, crowning what they say one of the biggest foreign policy achievements of Obama's presidency.
Meanwhile, Cuba hailed Obama's planned visit to the island as a step towards mending bilateral relations and expressed willingness to discuss human rights with the US president.
"His visit will represent a step forward in the improvement of relations between Cuba and the United States," said Josefina Vidal, head of US relations in the Cuban foreign ministry.
"It will be an opportunity for President Obama to appreciate the Cuban reality" and to discuss how to "expand bilateral dialogue and cooperation between the two countries," she added.
Referring to the existing trade embargo set by the US against Cuba as of 1962, Vidal said, "In order to achieve the normalization of relations between the two countries, the blockade has to be lifted and the territory occupied by the naval base in Guantanamo has to be returned."
According to White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, Obama is unlikely to meet with long-time American nemesis Fidel Castro, adding that the Guantanamo Bay facility is likely to be part of the discussions.
In December 2014, Obama announced the US would normalize relations with Cuba. The two countries reopened embassies in their respective capitals in July 2015 after more than 50 years.
Despite the rapprochement between the two countries, Washington continues to maintain a trade embargo on Havana that is mandated by the US Congress.
On Tuesday, Washington and Havana signed a memorandum of understanding to resume commercial flights between the two countries, authorizing up to 110 daily round-trip flights to 10 destinations in Cuba.
After Cuba, the US president is also to pay a visit to Argentina on March 23 and 24.
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