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President Barack Obama on Sunday landed in Havana at the start of his historic trip to Cuba. Joining him for the short flight to the island, just 90 miles off the US shore, were First Lady Michelle Obama and the couple's daughters. AP
President Obama waves after his arrival on Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba Sunday. Obama arrives in Cuba for an official visit until 22 March to seal the process of rapprochement with the Communist-ruled island. Obama is accompanied by his wife Michelle, his daughters Malia and Sasha, and his mother-in-law Marian Robinson. The visit of Obama to Cuba from 20 to 22 March 2016 is the first visit of a US president to Cuba since US President Calvin Coolidge's visit 88 years ago.(Photo: ALEJANDRO ERNESTO, EPA)
HAVANA<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— The wheels of Air Force One touched down at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jose Marti International Airport for the first time ever at 4:19<span style="color: Red;">*</span>p.m. Sunday, kicking off a history-making presidential visit and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>breaking decades of tense relations with communist Cuba.
It's the same single-runway<span style="color: Red;">*</span>airport the CIA once bombed in the 1960s, and whose broken-down Russian-built airplanes and colorful, antiquated terminals give testimony to the impact of 50 years of U.S. sanctions<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and diplomatic isolation.
But as he descended the stairway under an umbrella, President Obama<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was greeted warmly on the tarmac by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, who presented First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters with flowers. A small crowd gathered<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on the reviewing stand, but their cheers were subdued by the 84-degree drizzle.
Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Sunday that 974 reporters from 202 news outlets from 50 countries were in Havana to cover Obama’s trip.
President Obama's three-day visit will focus on deepening long-neglected commercial ties between the United States and Cuba, but also drawing a harder line on human rights abuses by the Castro government. Just hours before his arrival, Cuban authorities arrested more than 50 human rights activists at the weekly Ladies in White protest outside Havana.
USA TODAY
Cuba arrests dozens of human rights protesters before Obama's arrival
But first, Obama headed to a Havana hotel, where he met with American diplomats at the newly reopened embassy<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who have been working to normalize relations with Cuba since Pope Francis mediated a thawing of U.S.-Cuban relations in 2014.
"Having a U.S. embassy means we're more effectively able to advance our values, our interests and understand more effectively" the Cuban people's concerns," Obama told them.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"This is a historic visit and a historic opportunity."
Then,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Obama and the entire first<span style="color: Red;">*</span>family<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— the first lady, daughters Sasha and Malia and mother-in-law Marian Robinson<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— did some<span style="color: Red;">*</span>sight-seeing in heavier rain in Old Havana, including a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>visit to the Cathedral that is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba and where Pope Francis celebrated Mass last year.
There, Obama met with Cardinal<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jaime Ortega, who celebrated Palm Sunday Mass there Sunday morning<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after a procession through Old Havana.
Amid chants of "USA! USA!" Obama and his family walked to a local museum, which had prominently displayed an 1963 painting of Abraham Lincoln for the occasion. Then, the first family went to dinner at a highly rated paladar, a privately run restaraunt.
USA TODAY
Obama's schedule for historic trip to Havana, Cuba
On Monday, Obama will meet one-on-one with Cuban President Raul Castro, the brother of the retired revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Tuesday, Obama meets with dissidents and addresses the Cuban people directly in speech to be televised across the island. Finally,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>he'll engage in baseball diplomacy, taking in an exhibition game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cuban nationals<span style="color: Red;">*</span>before departing for Argentina Tuesday afternoon.
Obama arrived with a delegation so large it needed multiple planes. A White House press charter arrived Saturday, and a support plane helped bring 11 CEOs and 39 members of Congress Sunday. Also on Air Force One: The family of Jackie Robinson, the legendary baseball player who broke baseball's color line in 1947.
Obama is the first U.S. president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge arrived by battleship in 1928 to address the Pan-American Conference — a piece of history that Obama acknowledged to embassy staff..
"It took him three days to get here," Obama said. "It only took me three hours."
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBARAW VIDEO: Ladies in White protests prompt arrests | 00:23Cuban authorities arrest Lazaro Yuri Valle Roca, an independent journalist before a group of dissidents, Ladies in White, a group that protests against the Cuban government, march during their weekly protest in Havana. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBAObama arrives in Havana for historic visit | 01:09President Barack Obama on Sunday landed in Havana at the start of his historic trip to Cuba. Joining him for the short flight to the island, just 90 miles off the US shore, were First Lady Michelle Obama and the couple's daughters. AP
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBAProtests and arrests ahead of Obama's arrival in Cuba | 01:12Members of the Ladies in White, a group that protests against the Cuban government, are arrested by authorities following their weekly march. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBAObama and family depart for Cuba | 01:03President Barack Obama and his family departed for an historic trip to Cuba on Sunday. It's the first visit to Cuba by a sitting American president in almost nine decades. (March 20) AP
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBACuba waiting for President Obama | 02:16Cuba waiting for President Obama.
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBA'Que bola' Obama swaps jokes with Cuban comedian | 03:33Ahead of his visit to Cuba, US President Barack Obama cracked jokes with the communist country's most loved comedian in a surprise exchange broadcast online.Video provided by AFP Newslook
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