BARACK OBAMA TO MEET RAUL CASTRO ON HISTORIC VISIT TO CUBA

President Barack Obama is flying to Cuba for a historic visit to the island and talks with its communist leader.

The two-day visit will be the first by a sitting US president since Calvin Coolidge went 88 years ago.

Mr Obama will meet President Raul Castro – but not retired revolutionary leader Fidel Castro – and the pair will discuss trade and political reform.

Protesters were arrested in the capital Havana just hours before Mr Obama was due to arrive.

Police took away dozens of demonstrators from the Ladies in White group, formed by wives of political prisoners, from outside a church where they attempt to hold weekly protests.

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Correspondents say the visit marks a huge turnaround in US-Cuban relations.

It is hard to overstate the significance of this trip because as recently as 18 months ago, the idea of a US president setting foot on Cuban soil would have been unthinkable, the BBC’s North America editor Jon Sopel says.

But when Air Force One touches down in Havana on Sunday evening it will represent the opening of a new chapter in the affairs of the two nations, our correspondent says.

Mr Obama and Raul Castro will sit together at a state dinner, there will be a joint news conference and they will discuss trade.

The White House has made it clear President Obama will meet political dissidents, whether the Cuban authorities like it or not. That is expected to include members of the Ladies in White group, wives of political prisoners.

-BBC