Close X
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
ADVT 
International

Obama In Cuba On Historic Visit, To Meet Raul Castro

Darpan News Desk, 21 Mar, 2016 12:25 PM
    Barack Obama, the first US president visiting Cuba in nearly 90 years, was set to meet Cuban President Raul Castro on Monday on a historic trip that seeks to seal a new chapter in US-Cuban ties.
     
    Obama touched down in Havana on Sunday evening, ending a half century of estrangement in a personal demonstration of his core foreign policy principle of engaging with America's enemies, CNN reported.
     
    The three-day visit marks the culmination of a thaw in relations between Washington and the Communist island that began in December 2014 - 55 years after Fidel Castrol seized power.
     
    Obama arrived with First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia. He is due to meet Raul Castro later on Monday.
     
     
    Obama and Castro will hold official talks at the Palace of the Revolution, the third meeting between the two presidents since announcing the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, and the first official visit by a US president to Cuba since 1959, EFE news reported.
     
    They will hold a bilateral meeting for around one hour which afterwards will include official delegations from the Cuban and US governments. A joint press statement will follow.
     
    Before the talks, President Obama will lay a wreath by the statue of national hero Jose Marti at the Plaza of Revolution where there is also a portrait of Che Guevara -- the global revolutionary icon.
     
    Later in the afternoon, the president will attend a business forum between the US business leaders, with representatives of Cuban state-owned enterprises, the emerging private sector of the island, cooperatives and the so-called "self-employed" or entrepreneurs.
     
     
    Obama has repeatedly expressed his intention to help the development of this emerging sector that is considered a stepping stone and is helping to modernize Cuba's economy.
     
    In the evening, Obama will attend a state dinner, hosted by President Raul Castro.
     
     
    "It's been nearly 90 years since a US president stepped foot in Cuba, it is wonderful to be here. Back in 1928, President (Calvin) Coolidge came on a battleship. It took him three days to get here, it only took me three hours. For the first time ever Air Force One has landed in Cuba," he said during a speech at the US embassy in Havana shortly after his arrival.
     
    "This is a historic visit and it's a historic opportunity to engage directly with the Cuban people and to forge new agreements, commercial deals, to build new ties between our two peoples."
     
    The Obamas later began a walkabout in historic Old Havana.
     
    The first mail flight between the two countries since 1968 arrived in Havana from Miami on Wednesday, carrying on it a letter from Obama to a Havana coffee shop owner, a response to a series of missives he'd received ahead of his trip, CNN reported.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    India-Russia ties will be strengthened: Modi tells Medvedev

    India-Russia ties will be strengthened: Modi tells Medvedev
    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday met his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and said he was sure India-Russia ties will be strengthened....

    India-Russia ties will be strengthened: Modi tells Medvedev

    Indian army chief conferred honorary Nepal Army title

    Indian army chief conferred honorary Nepal Army title
    Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav Thursday conferred the honorary title of General of the Nepal Army upon visiting Indian Army Chief Gen. Dalbir Singh....

    Indian army chief conferred honorary Nepal Army title

    Wagah suicide bomber was 25-year-old: militants

    Wagah suicide bomber was 25-year-old: militants
    The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction Thursday released details of a man it said carried out the deadly suicide bombing near the Pakistan-India...

    Wagah suicide bomber was 25-year-old: militants

    Investigators leave MH17 crash site in east Ukraine

    Investigators leave MH17 crash site in east Ukraine
    Dutch investigators probing the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17's crash site Thursday left the Donetsk region in east Ukraine....

    Investigators leave MH17 crash site in east Ukraine

    Imran Khan dares Pakistan government to arrest him

    Imran Khan dares Pakistan government to arrest him
    Pakistan's Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party chairman Imran Khan has refused to seek bail after being charged with attacks on the parliament and PTV buildings in Islamabad, media reported Thursday....

    Imran Khan dares Pakistan government to arrest him

    Modi meets Chinese premier, gets China invite

    Modi meets Chinese premier, gets China invite
    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday had his first meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang who invited him to visit China....

    Modi meets Chinese premier, gets China invite