Obama Plans Historic Trip to Cuba to Further Ties

President Barack Obama will pay a historic visit to Cuba in the coming weeks, senior Obama administration officials said
Obama Plans Historic Trip to Cuba to Further Ties
President Barack Obama walks through the Colonnade at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 12, 2016. Alex Wong/Getty Images
The Associated Press
Updated:

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will pay a historic visit to Cuba in the coming weeks, senior Obama administration officials said, becoming the first president to set foot on the island in nearly seven decades.

The brief visit in mid-March will mark a watershed moment for relations between the U.S. and Cuba, a communist nation estranged from the U.S. for over half a century until Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro moved toward rapprochement more than a year ago. Since then, the nations have reopened embassies in Washington and Havana and have moved to restore commercial air travel, with a presidential visit seen as a key next step toward bridging the divide.

Obama's stop in Cuba will be part of a broader trip to Latin America