OBAMA, FIRST US PRESIDENT TO VISIT CUBA IN 88 YEARS

 In a move that will change Cuba-US relationship forever, President Barrack Obama has visited Cuba; talks are to be held with Raul Castro, Cuban’s communist leader

He is the first sitting US president to visit since the 1959 revolution, which heralded decades of hostility. The US president emerged smiling from Air Force One with First Lady Michelle and their daughters Sasha and Malia. This is history!

Two hours after landing, Mr Obama greeted staff from the US embassy with the words: “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 and this is our very first stop.”

He added the trip was a chance to for him to lay out a “vision for a future that is brighter than our past”.

The Obamas later began a walkabout in historic Old Havana.

Holding umbrellas, the party walked in light drizzle along a red carpet to be greeted by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez

The tour was meant to see them interacting with ordinary Cubans on the streets, but this part of the itinerary was marred by a tropical storm. They huddled under umbrellas before visiting the national cathedral.

President Obama’s visit is the high-point of a recent easing of ties, which included the opening of embassies last year. But only hours before his arrival, protesters calling for the release of political prisoners were arrested in the capital, Havana.

Police took away dozens of demonstrators from the Ladies in White group, formed of political prisoners’ wives, from outside a church where they attempt to hold weekly protests.

The White House has made it clear President Obama will meet political dissidents, whether the Cuban authorities like it or not. That is expected to include members of the Ladies in White group.