President Obama arrives in Cuba for historic visit

President Obama and Michelle Obama.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

When President Obama exited Air Force One in Cuba on Sunday afternoon, he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the island since Calvin Coolidge 88 years ago.

Embed from Getty Images

Iframe Code

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Obama was accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, and greeted by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. Minutes after arriving, the president tweeted that he was "looking forward to meeting and hearing directly from the Cuban people."

See more

The Obamas are expected to visit the Havana Cathedral to meet with Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega on Sunday evening, and on Monday, Obama will meet Cuban President Raul Castro to discuss his country's economy and political system. Obama will also raise the issue of human rights abuses in Cuba, the White House announced, and on Tuesday, the president will meet with anti-government activists, NPR reports.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.