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Barack Obama in Cuba at start of historic visit Barack Obama: 'Change is going to happen in Cuba'
(about 3 hours later)
President Barack Obama is in Cuba for a historic three-day visit to the island and talks with its communist leader.President Barack Obama is in Cuba for a historic three-day visit to the island and talks with its communist leader.
He is the first sitting US president to visit since the 1959 revolution, which heralded decades of hostility between the two countries.He is the first sitting US president to visit since the 1959 revolution, which heralded decades of hostility between the two countries.
Speaking at the re-opened US embassy in Havana, he called the visit "historic". Mr Obama said change would happen in Cuba and that Cuban President Raul Castro understood that.
Mr Obama will meet President Raul Castro, but not retired revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, and the pair will discuss trade and political reform. The two leaders are due to meet later on Monday to talk about trade and to hold a joint news conference.
Latest updates of Obama's visit
In pictures: Obama in CubaIn pictures: Obama in Cuba
Fidel followers remain nervous of thaw
Six sticking points to better relationsSix sticking points to better relations
Cuba's DIY economyCuba's DIY economy
How times are changing in HavanaHow times are changing in Havana
President Obama's visit is the high point of a recent easing of ties between the US and Cuba, which included the re-establishment of diplomatic missions last year. Why is the visit groundbreaking?
Unsurprisingly, his first stop was the newly re-opened embassy. For a US president to touch down at Jose Marti airport in Havana and be warmly greeted by Cuban's foreign minister was until recently unthinkable.
Mr Obama, who is the first sitting US president to visit Cuba in 88 years, told staff: "It is wonderful to be here." For decades, the US and Cuba were engaged in a bitter stand-off, triggered by the overthrow of US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista by Communist leader Fidel Castro in 1959.
"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 and this is our very first stop." The US broke off diplomatic relations and imposed a trade embargo.
Later on Sunday, he toured Havana's old town with his family, huddling under umbrellas to shelter from a tropical storm before visiting the national cathedral. But President Obama undertook two years of secret talks which led to the announcement in December 2014 that the two countries would restore diplomatic relations.
At the scene: Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor Since then, there have been a series of symbolic moments, such as the first formal meeting of Presidents Obama and Castro at a regional summit in Panama and the opening of embassies in Havana and Washington DC.
Cuba is one of the most exotic places I have visited. The mix of crumbling but beautiful Spanish colonial, 1950s Americana, and 1970s Soviet utilitarian, all laced with plentiful mojito cocktails and the sound of salsa, is beguiling. It's fabulous. What have been the highlights of the visit so far?
I was here twice last year. The first time was just after Presidents Obama and Castro announced their desire to open a new chapter in relations; the second when Secretary of State John Kerry flew in to re-open the US embassy on the waterfront. The first stop on President Obama's tour was the newly re-opened US embassy in Havana, where he told staff it was "wonderful to be here".
Now I am back for a third visit - and the cocktail that is Havana has a new ingredient. Well, two new ingredients actually. One is the smell of fresh paint. The other is shiny black tarmac on road surfaces where the potholes have been filled in. But it was the visit to Havana's old town which brought home the long way US-Cuban relations have come since the thaw was announced 15 months ago.
For security reasons, no one is saying precisely where the president will go when he's here, but here's my top tip as a highly trained investigative reporter. The roads where the potholes have been filled in, that's where the president will be. While the plan to interact with Cubans in the streets was disrupted by a tropical storm, the image of the US president and his family braving the rain demonstrated to many Cubans his commitment to the new, warmer relationship.
Win-win for US and Cuba What else is in store?
Security was tight and the historic city centre looked uncharacteristically empty. One Cuban shouted: "Down with the embargo!" Later on Monday, President Obama is due to get down to the nitty gritty of politics with Cuban leader Raul Castro.
President Obama responded by waving. Their meeting at the Palace of the Revolution will be closely scrutinised for signs of how much practical progress has been made.
The 54-year-old US trade embargo is one of the main sticking points in US-Cuban relations. Ahead of the meeting, President Obama said he believed that "change is going to happen here and I think that Raul Castro understands that".
It can only be lifted by the US Congress, which is controlled by Republicans who have expressed their opposition to its removal. He also told US broadcaster ABC that he would be announcing that Google had made a deal with the Cuban authorities to expand Cuba's poor wifi and broadband access.
The other area of dispute is human rights. There have been a series of other agreements between the two countries since the thaw was announced, including commercial deals on telecoms and a scheduled airline service, increased co-operation on law enforcement and environmental protection.
The White House has insisted the president will meet political dissidents, whether the Cuban authorities like it or not. Many Cubans are hoping their economy will receive a further boost from further openness and reforms as well as US investment.
Only hours before Mr Obama touched down, dozens of members of the dissident group Ladies in White were arrested during their weekly protest in Havana. Cuban officials are banking on a growth in US tourists visiting the island as restrictions on US citizens travelling there are eased further.
The group campaigns for the release of political prisoners. Mr Obama is likely to meet some of its members on Tuesday. On Sunday, US hotel company Starwood announced it had become the first US firm to agree a deal with the Cuban authorities since the revolution of 1959.
Despite disagreements, the visit marks a huge turnaround in US-Cuban relations. The company said it would be making a "multimillion-dollar investment" to bring three Cuban hotels "up to our standards".
Mr Obama and Raul Castro will sit together at a state dinner, there will be a joint news conference and they will discuss trade. What could possibly go wrong?
Since the two presidents announced a thaw in relation in December 2014, they have reached commercial deals on telecoms and a scheduled airline service, increased co-operation on law enforcement and environmental protection. While President Obama's agenda was carefully discussed with Cuban officials, one thing the White House has insisted on is a meeting between the president and Cuban dissidents, whether the Cubans like it or not.
On Wednesday Mr Obama sent a letter on the first direct mail flight from the US to Cuba since the revolution. Among them are expected to be members of the Ladies in White, a group which campaigns for the release of political prisoners.
The media view, by Emilio San Pedro, BBC Monitoring Only hours before Mr Obama touched down, dozens of their members were arrested during their weekly protest in Havana.
Prominent Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez wrote that Mr Obama's arrival on the first day of Holy Week means "he is awaited by the glory of his popularity and the cross of excessive expectations". The meeting between the dissidents and Mr Obama is scheduled for Tuesday.
Colombian newspaper Tiempo said Mr Obama put the "final nail on the coffin of the last legacy of the Cold War", but Cuban analyst Carlos Alberto Montaner said the president "miscalculated the wasps' nest he was getting into". Another main sticking point between the two countries is the 54-year-old US trade embargo.
Peruvian magazine Correo said Mr Obama must work to "make sure his progress on Cuba cannot be reversed". While strolling through Havana's old town on Sunday, one Cuban shouted: "Down with the embargo!"
Mexican daily El Universal said "the 'comandante' [Fidel Castro] will go down in history as the person who fought the US to defend the revolution. The General [Raul Castro] will go down as the one who made peace". The problem for Mr Obama is that it can only be lifted by the US Congress, which is controlled by Republicans who have expressed their opposition to its removal.
However, analysts say there are conflicting sentiments within Cuba's Communist Party over hosting Mr Obama. On the Cuban side, analysts say there are conflicting sentiments within the Communist Party over hosting Mr Obama.
Fidel followers remain nervous of thaw The Director General of the US division at the Cuban Foreign Ministry told the BBC's Will Grant that "matters of sovereignty of the Cuban people" would remain firmly off the agenda.
He is not scheduled to meet the leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro. Many observers have also noted that Mr Obama is not scheduled to meet Raul Castro's younger brother, the leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro.
The elder Castro has only made one official statement about the thaw in relations, and it was hardly a ringing endorsement: "I don't trust in the United States' policy, nor have I exchanged a word with them".The elder Castro has only made one official statement about the thaw in relations, and it was hardly a ringing endorsement: "I don't trust in the United States' policy, nor have I exchanged a word with them".
Thaw in US-Cuba relations: