President Barack Obama said
Thursday his history-making visit to Cuba next month was part of
an effort to "improve the lives of the Cuban people, the
Associated Press reported.
Obama vowed to press the Communist government on human
rights and other policy differences.
"We still have differences with the Cuban government that I
will raise directly. America will always stand for human
rights around the world," Obama wrote, as he announced the
history-making visit on Twitter.
The trip will make Obama the first sitting U.S. president
to set foot on the island in nearly seven decades.
In a series of tweets, Obama cast it as part of steady
progression of normalizing 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, eased travel restrictions and barriers
for business and have moved to restore commercial air travel.
A presidential trip was held out as significant leverage in
these talks.
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