Cuba welcomes Obama's visit, calls for removal of key obstacles

A woman wears trousers with the colors of the US flag, in Havana, February 18, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

In response, Vidal said that "Cuba is open to talking with the United States on any issue", and "Cuba has its opinions too about how human rights have been exercised in many countries, including the United States".

The normalization of bilateral relations depends on the resolution of key outstanding issues, including the lifting of the blockade, and the return to Cuba of the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base, Vidal said.

A Cuban netizen said on the Cubasi website that "I'm going to take him to have lunch at my local diner so he can see the effects of his government's cruel and ruthless embargo against us".

Obama's Cuba visit will be part of a Latin America tour that will also take him to Argentina.

After more than 50 years of icy interactions, Cuban President Raul Castro and Obama met in the United Nations General Assembly last September, after their first historic face-to-face encounter at the Summit of the Americas last April.

The last US president to have visited Cuba was Calvin Coolidge, according to the White House.