Obama Visit to Cuba: Agenda Includes President Castro Meeting, Business Event with Entrepreneurs, Delivering Address to All Cubans

By Michael Oleaga Mar 19 2016, 17:57 PM EDT

President Barack Obama will become the first American president to visit Cuba in nearly 90 years this Sunday in an effort to further review diplomatic relations with the little Latin American island.

The Trip's Goal & Itinerary

According to Ben Rhodes, assistant to President Obama, the trip is an additional step to improve the lives of the Cuban people and further build a bilateral relationship with the Cuban government, even on issues the two countries have disagreements on -- namely human rights. Rhodes added the the trip is not only an opportunity to meet with Cuban government officials but also the Cuban people, and Obama will engage with different sectors of Cuban society.

Arriving on March 20, Obama's family will visit several Cuban sites in Old Havana for some cultural outreach, including a visit with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who, along with Pope Francis, helped pave diplomatic channels for U.S. and Cuban officials to renew relations.

On Monday, March 21, Obama will lay a wreath at the Jose Marti Memorial in Havana, in honor of the national hero island's national hero, who was a poet, journalist and political activist. Then, Obama will have a meeting with President Raul Castro. The bilateral meeting will feature discussion of the progress the two countries have been in renewing relations since Dec. 17, 2014, and address topics both governments have mutual interests and even disagreements.

After the Castro meeting, Obama is scheduled to attend an event focused on Cuban entrepreneurship and opportunities. The goal for the event to unite Cuban entrepreneurs with Americans businesses and honor self-employed Cubans. Obama is expected to deliver remarks and hear from some Cubans participating in the event.

Obama's Monday night schedule concludes with a state dinner at the Revolutionary Schedule.

Finally, on Tuesday, the president will deliver an address to Cubans, where he will describe the direction both the U.S. and Cuba are heading with the renewed relations and detail his vision for improved development.

"So we see this speech as a unique moment obviously in the history between our countries. This is the first visit of a U.S. President in nearly 90 years; certainly the first speech given by a President on Cuban soil in nearly 90 years, and an opportunity for the President to engage the Cuban people with his vision for the future," said Rhodes.

After his speech, he will meet with Cuban human rights activists and attend a baseball game featuring the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team.

Concerns with the Cuban Trip

U.S. Sen Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has been critical about Obama's trip to Cuba, especially given the island's history and crackdown on human rights.

"I rise in memory of all Cuban dissidents who have given their lives in the hope of Cuba, one day, being free from the yoke of the Castro regime," Menendez said during a speech in the Senate on March 16, adding that Obama should have visited one of the remaining 150 countries he's yet to visit.

"The president has negotiated a deal with the Castros, and I understand his desire to make this his legacy issue, but there is still a fundamental issue of freedom and democracy at stake that goes to the underlying atmosphere in Cuba and whether or not the Cuban people will still be repressed and still be imprisoned or will they benefit from the president's legacy, or will it be the Castro Regime that reaps that benefits," said Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants.