--- title: President Obama Plans Historic Trip to Cuba description: President Obama is planning a trip to Cuba as part of his tour of Latin America in March canonical: https://time.com/4228623/president-obama-cuba-trip/ author: Mark Rivett-Carnac article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-18T03:53:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T18:06:36.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Plans Historic Trip to Cuba og:description: A significant step in the thaw between the two countries og:url: https://time.com/4228623/president-obama-cuba-trip/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7368efc16f65139d/69887e24524fc01b58df6d02/gettyimages-510876474.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Obama Meets With Tom Donilon And Sam Palmisano In The Oval Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Plans Historic Trip to Cuba twitter:description: A significant step in the thaw between the two countries twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7368efc16f65139d/69887e24524fc01b58df6d02/gettyimages-510876474.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:22 video:published: 2016-02-18 section: world topics: Cuba, United States, bilateral relations, normalization of relations, blockade, Guantanamo naval base, upcoming visit, diplomacy genre: news clip, statement tones: formal, assertive, serious emotions: determination (medium), hope (low), resolve (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: news viewers, foreign policy followers, students of international relations, general public content_suitability: politics [00:00-00:22] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # President Obama Plans Historic Trip to Cuba > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7fb3e5f0-4fd4-4902-8213-61af34e38a81&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Cuba Comments on Obama's Upcoming Visit [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Cuba Comments on Obama's Upcoming Visit](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/03Jl7i8P.m3u8) (0:22)  _Published 2016-02-18_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary A speaker commenting on an upcoming visit says it will represent a step forward in improving relations between Cuba and the United States. The speaker states that normalization of relations between the two countries requires lifting the blockade. The speaker also says the territory occupied by the naval base in Guantanamo must be returned. ## Key points - The visit is described as representing a step forward in improving relations between Cuba and the United States. (00:00) - Achieving normalization of relations between the two countries is presented as having conditions that must be met. (00:06) - The speaker says the blockade has to be lifted in order to achieve normalization of relations. (00:11) - The speaker says the territory occupied by the naval base in Guantanamo has to be returned. (00:17) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:06] Visit seen as step forward. The speaker says the visit will represent progress in improving relations between Cuba and the United States. - [00:06 to 00:22] Conditions for normalized relations. The speaker states that the blockade must be lifted and the Guantanamo naval base territory returned to achieve normalization. ## Key quotes - [00:00] speaker: "His visit will represent a step forward in the improvement in the relations between Cuba and the United States." - [00:06] speaker: "Of course in order to achieve the normalization of relations between the two countries, the blockade has to be lifted" - [00:17] speaker: "the territory occupied by navel base in Guantanamo has to be returned." ## Questions this video answers - How does the speaker describe the significance of the upcoming visit? [00:00] - What does the speaker say is needed to achieve normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States? [00:06] - What does the speaker say must happen with the blockade? [00:13] - What does the speaker say must happen with the territory occupied by the naval base in Guantanamo? [00:17] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-00:22]: Political commentary on relations between Cuba and the United States, including calls to lift the blockade and return the Guantanamo naval base territory. by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:06 PM UTCPublished: Feb 18, 2016 3:53 AM UTC  President Barack Obama in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17, 2016 President Barack Obama in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17, 2016 Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:06 PM UTCPublished: Feb 18, 2016 3:53 AM UTC President Obama is [planning a trip ](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3ff907989990443ca00ffb93715c272c/president-obama-expected-visit-cuba-march)to Cuba as part of his tour of Latin America in March, he announced early Thursday, which would make him the first American president to visit the island in almost 90 years and mark a significant step in [the normalization of relations between the two countries](http://time.com/3759629/cuba-us-policy/). The President and First Lady Michelle Obama will be in Cuba from March 21 to 22\. Obama will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro and look to further develop diplomatic and commercial relations with Cuba during his visit, the White House said in a statement. Obama first [floated](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-obama-cuba-trip-idUSKCN0VR09D) the idea of visiting Cuba in December as part of efforts to normalize ties between Havana and Washington. The Cold War foes [pledged](http://time.com/3637483/alan-gross-cuba-barack-obama/) in December 2014 to restore relations after more than a half-century freeze. > [](https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/700320240022921216) As part of the diplomatic thaw, officials [signed a deal](http://time.com/4225511/us-cuba-commercial-flights-deal/) on Tuesday opening the skies for commercial flights between the two countries, and [embassies were reopened](http://time.com/3966057/cuban-embassy-reopening/) last summer. Despite the headway, commerce remains limited by a U.S. trade embargo. A Presidential visit would mark a turning point in U.S.-Cuba relations and a potential triumph for Obama’s foreign policy legacy. But the plans quickly drew criticism from Republican presidential candidates, including Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both the sons of Cuban immigrants. Following the Cuba trip, the Obamas will travel to Argentina and meet with its new president, Mauricio Macri. If he makes the 90-mile hop across the Straits of Florida, Obama will be the first sitting U.S. President to travel to Cuba since [Calvin Coolidge](http://abcnews.go.com/US/president-obama-planning-trip-cuba-month-sources/story?id=37015093) in 1928, according to ABC News. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3ff907989990443ca00ffb93715c272c/president-obama-expected-visit-cuba-march)\] ## Transcript [00:00] His visit will represent a step forward in [00:04] the improvement in the relations between Cuba and [00:06] the United States. Of course in order to [00:11] achieve the normalization of relations between the two [00:13] countries, the blockade has to be lifted and the [00:17] territory occupied by navel base in Guantanamo has to [00:21] be returned. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4228623/president-obama-cuba-trip/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4228623/president-obama-cuba-trip/"},"headline":"President Obama Plans Historic Trip to Cuba","datePublished":"2016-02-18T03:53:49.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T18:06:36.000Z","description":"A significant step in the thaw between the two countries","url":"https://time.com/4228623/president-obama-cuba-trip/","keywords":["diplomacy","Barack Obama","Cuba","President Obama","United States","us"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7368efc16f65139d/69887e24524fc01b58df6d02/gettyimages-510876474.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7368efc16f65139d/69887e24524fc01b58df6d02/gettyimages-510876474.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Meets With Tom Donilon And Sam Palmisano In The Oval Office","caption":"President Obama Meets With Tom Donilon And Sam Palmisano In The Oval Office","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/diplomacy/","name":"diplomacy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4228623/president-obama-cuba-trip/","name":"President Obama Plans Historic Trip to Cuba"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Cuba Comments on Obama's Upcoming Visit","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/03Jl7i8P/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-18T17:47:33.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/03Jl7i8P.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4228623/president-obama-cuba-trip/","duration":"PT22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4228623/president-obama-cuba-trip/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```