President Obama in Cuba
March 22, 2016
On Sunday afternoon, March 20, U.S. President Barack Obama arrived on Air Force One with the First Family for a three-day visit to Havana, Cuba. Obama’s arrival made him the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. The historic visit is the latest step in the accelerating rapprochement (renewal of friendly relations) between Cuba and the United States. The president and his family toured Old Havana in the rain and met with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who has been a key part of the negotiations bringing the nations back together.
U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Cuban President Raúl Castro at the Revolution Palace on March 21, 2016, in Havana, Cuba.
Credit: © Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP Photo
On Monday, Obama laid a wreath at the memorial to Cuban national hero José Julián Martí in the Plaza de la Revolución. A military honor guard then welcomed Obama to the Revolution Palace, where he met Cuban President Raúl Castro. The two leaders discussed trade and political reforms aimed at lifting longstanding U.S. sanctions against the Communist island country. Obama pressed Castro to provide greater Internet access for Cubans, while the Cuban delegation repeated the goal of reclaiming Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, which has been under formal U.S. control since 1903.
Today, March 22, Obama is to address the Cuban people on live television before joining President Castro for an exhibition game between the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Cuban National Team at Havana’s Estadio Latinoamericano. The Rays’ visit to Cuba is the first by an MLB team since the Baltimore Orioles played a similar exhibition in 1999. President Obama will then fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina, for his first visit with President Mauricio Macri.
