It will be the first trip to the communist island nation and long-time American adversary by a US president in 88 years; Calvin Coolidge was the last president to visit.
In a series of four tweets that constituted the Cuba announcement, Obama said the United States still has differences with the Cuban government that he will raise directly
"America will always stand for human rights around the world," he tweeted, adding that in the 14 months period since he announced the US would begin normalising relations with Cuba, there has already been significant progress in ties.
"Our flag flies over our embassy in Havana once again. More Americans are traveling to Cuba than at any time in the last 50 y ears," Obama wrote, even as his cabinet colleagues handling commerce, treasury, and state departments were meeting privately with their Cuban counterparts in Washington for talks aimed at expanding business ties.
The recasting of ties with three historic adversaries topped off with official visits by the President represents one of the most farreaching American foreign policy initiatives after the detente with China in 1972. While the US overture through President Nixon was conducted in secrecy and the developments were sprung as a surprise, Obama oversaw a gradual, and sometimes public roll back of US antagonism towards Iran and Cuba
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