Obama announces Cuba visit

US President Barack Obama will visit Havana, Cuba, March 21-22, according to a Medium post by deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.

The President announced the news via Twitter on Thursday, CNN reported.

"14 months ago, I announced that we would begin normalizing relations with Cuba - and we've already made significant progress," he tweeted. 

"Our flag flies over our Embassy in Havana once again. More Americans are traveling to Cuba than at any time in the last 50 years."

"We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise directly. America will always stand for human rights around the world," he tweeted. "Next month, I'll travel to Cuba to advance our progress and efforts that can improve the lives of the Cuban people."

Rhodes said first lady Michelle Obama will accompany the President, who will be the first since Calvin Coolidge to visit Cuba while in office. He did so in 1928.

The trip, long expected, comes after Obama's administration formally reopened ties with Havana in late 2014, following a half-century of enmity.

The American embassy was reopened and a US flag raised at the compound on Havana harbor in August.

Since then, high level US officials have traveled to the island, including Secretary of State John Kerry and transportation chief Anthony Foxx.

Travel restrictions have been loosened and economic channels revived. Obama shook Cuban leader Raul Castro's hand during an historic face-to-face meeting last spring.

That meeting, which transpired during a summit in Panama, was regarded as a breakthrough. But images of the American President stepping onto Cuban soil will provide Obama a lasting illustration of his adage that diplomacy with traditional US foes can yield concrete results.

Source: MENA