The President of the United States, Barack Obama, lands at José Martí International Airport at 16:19 local time on a cloudy and rainy afternoon in Havana city, after two and a half hours flying time from Washington.
He was received at the foot of the ladder by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, and also, Josefina Vidal, general director of the United States in the Foreign Ministry, among other Cuban and US officials accredited here.
The visit to Cuba’s ruling is the first of an american mandatary in nearly 90 years, after Calvin Coolidge attend the Sixth Annual International Conference of American States, held in Havana in January 1928 under the auspices of dictator Gerardo Machado.
The Air Force One took off from Andrews Air Force Base, outside Washington, at 13:30 pm local (same in Cuba) hour, according to The New York Times. In addition, Boeing 747-200 traveling from the official delegation, the president’s wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia, and her mother, Marian Robinson.
According to the program, from the Havana airport— located in the Rancho Boyeros Avenue — the president parts to a meeting with officials of the american Embassy in Cuba, and later he will tour the historic center of the capital, a heritage area and one of the restoration projects and improving the quality of life of the most successful population of the island.
According to statements from the White House, confirmed by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, the american President will hold on Monday an official meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro in the historic Palace of the Revolution, after which the two will make statements to the media.
In the afternoon, Obama will participate in the Business Forum Cuba-US with business leaders from both countries, and in the evening he will attend a state dinner at the Palace of the Revolution. Tuesday, he will deliver a speech at the Gran Teatro de La Habana “Alicia Alonso” and before leaving for Buenos Aires to continue his Latin American tour, will attend an exhibition game between a selection of national baseball team and the Tampa Bay Rays.