Obama Cuba trip update: POTUS to meet Cuban president Raul Castro next month

The President of the United States will visit Cuba in March.

In a tweet on Thursday, President Barack Obama wrote: "Next month, I'll travel to Cuba to advance our progress and efforts that can improve the lives of the Cuban people."  

Obama will meet with Cuban president Raul Castro but is unlikely to see revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Just like his other trips, the U.S. president will also meet with various civil society groups, dissidents, and entrepreneurs.

"He'll be meeting with dissidents, with members of civil society, including those who certainly oppose the Cuban government's policies," Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, told reporters.

The trip will be a historic one since it will be the first time since 1928 that a U.S. President will visit Cuba. This will also be to strengthen the agreement the two countries made in 2014 to re-open their ties. However, the 50-year U.S. embargo hasn't been lifted.

Josefina Vidal, the director of U.S. affairs for the Cuban foreign ministry said the Cuban government is willing to talk to the U.S. about its concerns. However, the Cuban government wants the U.S. to lift the embargo against the country and return Guantanamo Bay for the relations to normalize. 

Republican candidate Marco Rubio, who is also a son of Cuban immigrants, sent Obama an open letter saying: "You will send the message to the oppressed Cuban people that you stand with their oppressors. You will send the message to the Western Hemisphere and the rest of the world, especially our enemies, that the United States can grow tired of standing up for our national security interests and principles." 

Yoani Sanchez, a prominent opposition blogger, echoed the same sentiments. She wrote in her blog that the presidents words should be "directed to those young people who right now are assembling a raft, fueled by their despair they carry within. He needs to let them know that the material and moral misery that surrounds them is not the responsibility of the White House."