Obama 'to make historic Cuba visit' Obama 'to make historic Cuba visit'

The US has reopened its embassy in Havana, bringing to an end decades of hostility between the two nations.

US President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro announced in December moves to normalise diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In a flag-raising ceremony to reopen the US embassy in Havana, US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Cuba to become more democratic.
"We remain convinced the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders, express their ideas, practice their faith," Mr Kerry told those gathered on the embassy grounds and millions of islanders watching and listening live. A prisoner in Cuba for five years, Alan Gross was the focal point of tense negotiations between the US and Cuba. Now his release signals a potential thaw in relations between the two countries. In December, Mr Obama told Yahoo News he wanted to meet political dissidents in Cuba to help "nudge the Cuban government in a new direction".

Image copyright AP Image caption Republicans say Mr Obama should not visit while President Raul Castro is in power

Cuba's government responded by saying Mr Obama was welcome to visit but should not meddle in the country's internal affairs.
Mr Obama's visit could coincide with the signing of a peace deal in Havana between the Colombian government and rebels from the Farc group to end that country's civil war, due to take place by 23 March.
The deal was encouraged by the Cuban government.
On Tuesday, US and Cuban officials signed a deal to resume commercial air traffic for the first time in five decades.
However, the Republican majority in the US Congress has blocked Mr Obama's call to end the longstanding trade embargo.
The embargo limits trade and also bans US tourists from visiting the island.

 Alan Gross, 65, travelled to Cuba in 2009 as a contractor to US Agency for International Development (USAID), bringing communications equipment, including internet access, to the country's Jewish community groups.

But Cuban officials accused him of fomenting dissent. He was arrested in December 2009 and sentenced two years later to 15 years in prison for "acts against the integrity of the state".
His imprisonment had been a sticking point amid a slow thaw in relations between the US and Cuba, according the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher.
Now Mr Gross has been released as part of prisoner swap and a major shift in America's Cuba policy