Cuban President Raúl Castro Will Reportedly Visit the United States

Cuban President Raúl Castro Will Reportedly Visit the United States
BY TAYLOR WOFFORD 9/15/15 AT 2:27 PM

Cuban President Raúl Castro will speak before the United Nations General
Assembly in New York City on September 28, according to
multiple reports. Castro's visit will mark the first time a president of
Cuba has publicly set foot on American soil since 1960, when President
Fidel Castro, his elder brother, spoke before the United Nations.

The announcement comes as tensions between the United States and Cuba
continue to wane. The process began publicly last December when
President Barack Obama announced his administration planned to set a
"new course" on U.S.-Cuba relations. Soon after, the U.S. traded three
Cubans convicted of spying in Miami for Alan Gross, an American aid
worker convicted of espionage by a Cuban court in 2011. Since then, U.S.
and Cuban delegations have met several times to discuss issues ranging
from human rights, treatment of prisoners, trade, extradition and, most
significantly, the U.S. embargo on Cuba, which the Cubans calls "the
blockade."

Obama is also expected to speak before the General Assembly on September
28, three days after Pope Francis addresses the body on September 25.
Francis will visit Cuba from September 19 to September 22 before he
arrives in the United States.

U.S. law prohibits members of Cuba's Communist party, of which Raúl
Castro is the leader, from visiting the United States.

An email to the Cuban Mission to the United Nations and a phone call to
the Cuban Interest Section in Washington, D.C. were not immediately
returned.

Source: Cuban President Raúl Castro Will Reportedly Visit the United
States - http://www.newsweek.com/raul-castro-visit-united-states-372455