President Obama has arrived in Cuba for a historic three-day visit, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the island in 88 years. Obama is scheduled to meet Cuban President Raúl Castro this morning at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana. While diplomatic ties have been restored between the two countries, many issues remain unsolved. The 54-year-old US trade embargo on Cuba remains in place. The United States has also refused to give up control of its Navy base and military prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. Last year, Raúl Castro said Cuba will not be able to normalize relations with the United States until Washington returns Guantánamo to Cuba. We go to Havana to speak with former Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray Treto and Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive in Washington, DC.
TRANSCRIPT
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AMY GOODMAN: President Obama has arrived in Cuba for an historic three-day visit, becoming the first sitting US president to visit the island in 88 years. On Sunday, Obama and his family toured Old Havana after meeting with US Embassy staff and their families.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: It’s been nearly 90 years since a US president stepped foot in Cuba. It is wonderful to be here. Back in 1928, President 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. So, this is a historic visit, and it’s a historic opportunity to engage directly with the Cuban people and to forge new agreements and commercial deals, to build new ties between our two peoples and, for me, to lay out my vision for a future that’s brighter than our past.
AMY GOODMAN: President Obama is scheduled to meet Cuban President Raúl Castro this morning at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana. A state dinner for the Obamas will be held tonight. On Tuesday,…