President Obama is about to land in Cuba for a historic visit

Tourists pose ahead of President Obama&#039;s historic visit with Raúl Castro

(Image credit: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images)

published 20 March 2016

President Obama is set to arrive in Cuba on Sunday for a historic 48-hour visit, marking the first such trip by a U.S. president in 88 years, Reuters reports.

In December 2014, Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro began strengthening diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been at odds since the Cold War. Despite Obama's progress easing travel and trade restrictions, Congress has not yet repealed the U.S.'s economic embargo of Cuba.

Obama's trip was first reported in February.

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.

Explore More

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.