The White House today offered a more detailed look at President Obama's itinerary for his historic visit to Cuba next week and the trip to Argentina that will follow. 
 
 Accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters, as well as the President's mother-in-law, Obama will arrive in Havana Sunday afternoon, March 20. With his family he will tour Old Havana, including the Roman Catholic cathedral there, where the President will be met by Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who helped facilitate negotiations that led to the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations in December 2014. 
 
 Monday, March 21, Obama will lay a wreath at the Jose Marti memorial, then meet Cuban President Raul Castro to discuss the progress of normalization. White House officials confirm Obama will not meet with Castro's older brother, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. 
 
 After meeting with Raul Castro, Obama will then attend a gathering of Cuban entrepreneurs as well as U.S. and Cuban-American business leaders. That evening, he'll attend a state dinner at the Revolutionary Palace. 
 
 Tuesday morning is slated for what Obama aides call the most important event of the visit, a speech "to the Cuban people" delivered by Obama at the Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonso. Aides say they expect the speech - in which Obama will address the issue of Cuba's human rights record. among other matters - to be broadcast island-wide, and that so far Cuban officials have not objected to that. 
 
 After that speech, Obama will meet with members of Cuban civil society, including rights activists (whom the White House has not yet named). 
 
 Before leaving Havana on Tuesday, Obama will attend a baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national all-star team. 
 
 Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine will also visit Cuba next week, marking the first time a Miami-Dade County mayor has traveled there. 
 
 From Havana, Obama and family will fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they'll be met by recently elected President Mauricio Macri. It will be the first bilateral visit by a U.S. president in almost 20 years - and comes the same week Argentina observes the 40th anniversary of a U.S.-backed military coup that sparked the country's infamous Dirty War, which murdered thousands of mostly young leftists. So as not to be present in Buenos Aires on Thursday March 24, the actual anniversary - protesters said it would be an affront to Dirty War victims' families - Obama will make a visit to Bariloche in southern Argentina. ||||| President Obama is planning a trip to Cuba in March, marking the first time in more than 80 years a sitting U.S. president will visit the country, according to sources with knowledge of the plan. 
 
 Interested in ? Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest 
 
 The president officially announced his trip via Twitter on Thursday morning. 
 
 Next month, I'll travel to Cuba to advance our progress and efforts that can improve the lives of the Cuban people. — President Obama (@POTUS) February 18, 2016 
 
 In a post detailing the trip on Medium, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the president is traveling to Cuba to press for more reforms, noting that while advancements have been made, "still, this progress is insufficient." 
 
 "There is much more that can be done -- by the United States, and by the Cuban government -- to advance this opening in ways that will be good for Cubans, and good for the United States. That is why President Obama is traveling to Cuba," Rhodes wrote. "We want to open up more opportunities for U.S. businesses and travelers to engage with Cuba, and we want the Cuban government to open up more opportunities for its people to benefit from that engagement." 
 
 The trip is planned for March 21-22 before the president flies to Argentina on March 23-24. During the trip to Cuba, President Obama is set to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro. The two men first met face-to-face during a summit in Panama last year. 
 
 First Lady Michelle Obama will travel with the president to Cuba, and the First Family will join him in Argentina. 
 
 The move comes roughly 15 months following the president's pledge with Raul Castro to reopen diplomatic channels following a prisoner exchange and the humanitarian release of U.S. contractor Alan Gross in December 2014. 
 
 Since the announcement, the two countries have had a series of diplomatic talks, leading to the reopening of embassies last summer and the recent deal restoring commercial air traffic. 
 
 The last and only sitting U.S. president to visit the island nation only 90 miles south of the Florida keys was Calvin Coolidge, in 1928, to address the Sixth Annual International Conference of American States in Havana. 
 
 He met with Cuba's President Gerardo Machado, who was in office from 1925 to 1933, until he was forced into exile. 
 
 President Jimmy Carter traveled to Cuba in 2002, 20 years after leaving office, at the invitation of President Fidel Castro. 
 
 Carter also made a trip in 2011. 
 
 This is a developing story. Please check back in for updates. ||||| President Obama Touches Down In Cuba, Commencing A Historic Visit 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images Joe Raedle/Getty Images 
 
 One of the last vestiges of the Cold War was buried Sunday, when President Obama set foot in Cuba. He's the first American president to visit the island since Calvin Coolidge, 88 years ago. 
 
 "Que bola', Cuba?" Obama tweeted in an informal greeting, moments after Air Force One touched down at Havana's Jose Marti Airport. "Looking forward to meeting and hearing directly from the Cuban people." 
 
 Holding an umbrella against a light rain, Obama and the first family were greeted by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. The motorcade then made its way to a meeting with staff of the U.S. embassy, which re-opened last summer after a half-century of official isolation. 
 
 Obama and his wife and daughters planned to visit the Havana Cathedral on Sunday evening and meet with Cardinal Ortega — recognition of the prominent role he and Pope Francis played in encouraging the Administration's surprise thaw with Cuba that was announced in December 2014. 
 
 The president was to be joined in Cuba by more three dozen members of Congress, including several who accompanied the first family on Air Force One. Several U.S. business leaders will also take part in the visit, including an executive from Starwood hotels, which just inked an agreement to manage three Cuban properties. 
 
 The history-making trip is designed to cement the Administration's diplomatic outreach to Cuba, making it hard for any future president to return to the half-century old policy of isolation that Obama and his team consider a failure. 
 
 Only Congress can lift the trade embargo against Cuba. But over the past 15 months, the Administration has been chipping away at it, easing restrictions on both travel and commerce. 
 
 The number of Americans traveling to Cuba jumped nearly 80 percent last year. That's expected to increase as airlines resume scheduled service later this year, with up to 110 flights a day. 
 
 Thus far, the U.S. overtures have been met with little reciprocal movement by the Cuban government. Obama is expected to press Cuban President Raul Castro to do more open both Cuba's economy and the political system when the two leaders meet on Monday. 
 
 The White House says Obama will also raise the issue of Cuba's human rights abuses and he plans to meet separately with anti-government activists on Tuesday. A weekly demonstration by the Ladies in White group was quickly silenced Sunday afternoon, and more than 50 dissidents were hauled away, hours before Obama's arrival. 
 
 A happier demonstration is expected Tuesday at Havana's Estadio Latinoamericano, where the Tampa Bay Rays will play an exhibition baseball game against the Cuban national team. The contest is a nod to the popular passtime the two countries share, and comes as Major Leage Baseball is negotiating a deal to let Cuban ballplayers sign with big league teams without having to defect. 
 
 In Havana'a central park, where baseball is a frequent topic of conversation, residents are looking forward to the matchup. Narcis Vallant says no matter which team comes out on top, both countries will be winners. ||||| Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama will become the first sitting U.S. President to visit Cuba in 88 years, when he visits Havana in March, White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced Thursday. 
 
 The visit, which is scheduled for March 21-22, is another big step by the administration in ongoing efforts to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. 
 
 The President announced the news via Twitter on Thursday. 
 
 "14 months ago, I announced that we would begin normalizing relations with Cuba - and we've already made significant progress," he tweeted. "Our flag flies over our Embassy in Havana once again. More Americans are traveling to Cuba than at any time in the last 50 years." 
 
 Our flag flies over our Embassy in Havana once again. More Americans are traveling to Cuba than at any time in the last 50 years. 
 
 "We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise directly. America will always stand for human rights around the world," he tweeted. "Next month, I'll travel to Cuba to advance our progress and efforts that can improve the lives of the Cuban people." 
 
 We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise directly. America will always stand for human rights around the world. 
 
 The White House also announced Thursday that the President will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro, as well as entrepreneurs and different members of Cuban society. 
 
 The President aims to continue to "chart a new course" for U.S.- Cuban relations by connecting U.S. and Cuban citizens through travel, commerce and access to information, according to Earnest. 
 
 The President will be joined by the first lady on his trip to Cuba, after which they will visit Argentina for two days. 
 
 The last sitting U.S. President to visit Cuba was Calvin Coolidge in 1928. 
 
 "President Coolidge traveled to Cuba on a U.S. battleship, so this will be a very different kind of visit," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes wrote in a post on Medium 
 
 In the Medium post, Rhodes cited the progress made between the two countries since Obama took office, but also acknowledged there is more to be done especially on human rights and added that the President will continue to raise those issues to Castro. 
 
 "As the President has said, Cuba will not change overnight, nor will all of the various differences between our countries go away," Rhodes wrote. "But the guiding principle of our Cuba policy -- our North Star -- remains taking steps that will improve the lives of the Cuban people." 
 
 The trip, long expected, comes after Obama's administration formally reopened ties with Havana in late 2014, following a half-century of enmity. 
 
 Cuban officials reacted positively to the announcement Thursday. 
 
 "U.S. President Barack Obama will be welcomed by the government of Cuba and the Cuban people with our traditional hospitality. It will be an opportunity for (the) President to appreciate the Cuban reality," Josefina Vidal, the general director for U.S. affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry said at a news conference in Havana Thursday. "His visit will represent a step forward in relations between Cuba and the US." 
 
 At the news conference, Vidal also called for the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba to be lifted and the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo to be returned to Cuban control. 
 
 Speaking at CNN's GOP town hall on Wednesday night, presidential candidate Marco Rubio slammed the announcement. 
 
 The Florida senator said that if he were president, he would not visit the island nation -- unless it were a "free Cuba." 
 
 The Cuban government is "an anti-American communist dictatorship," said the Cuban-American senator, who has been an outspoken critic of Obama's Cuba policy. "They're a repressive regime." 
 
 Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, whose father emigrated from Cuba, also disparaged the prospect of a presidential visit. 
 
 "I think it's a real mistake. I think the President ought to be pushing for a free Cuba," Cruz said at the same town hall. "My family has seen firsthand the evil and the oppression in Cuba. We need a president who stands up to our enemies." 
 
 The American embassy was reopened and a U.S. flag raised at the compound on Havana harbor in August. 
 
 Since then, high level U.S. officials have traveled to the island, including Secretary of State John Kerry and transportation chief Anthony Foxx. 
 
 Travel restrictions have been loosened and economic channels revived. Obama shook Cuban leader Raul Castro's hand during an historic face-to-face meeting last spring. 
 
 That meeting, which transpired during a summit in Panama, was regarded as a breakthrough. But images of the American President stepping onto Cuban soil will provide Obama a lasting illustration of his adage that diplomacy with traditional U.S. foes can yield concrete results. 
 
 Last week, U.S. air carriers entered a bidding war to secure routes to Cuba after both nations signed an agreement to resume flights between the island and the United States. 
 
 U.S. travelers, who previously were required to adhere to strict conditions for visits to Cuba, are now able to apply for a broad range of travel licenses, included trips for cultural exchanges and humanitarian work. 
 
 But travel purely for tourism won't be allowed until the U.S. Congress lifts a longstanding embargo, which also restricts most trade with Cuba. 
 
 Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat who launched a bipartisan Cuba Working Group in December, said Obama's trip would help "close the book on the outdated Cold War policy that divided us for so many years." 
 
 Many lawmakers stand opposed to such a move, arguing the regime in Cuba restricts dissent and tramples on citizens' freedom of expression. 
 
 Leading up to the announcement of Obama's trip, White House officials said Cuba would need to demonstrate human rights reforms before the President would travel there. 
 
 Rhodes said in a briefing that Obama will meet with dissidents when he visits Cuba in March. 
 
 He noted Obama met with dissidents at the Summit of the Americas in Panama last year -- where he shook Raul Castro's hand -- and said Obama engages with a "broad range of actors" around the world, and that Cuba is no different. 
 
 He said Obama was not likely to meet with Fidel Castro on the island. 
 
 Officials say Obama could visit the island to witness a signing of a peace accord between the government of Colombia and the FARC rebel group. Obama committed $400 million to the Colombian government in his most recent budget proposal to implement the deal.
– President Obama next month will become the first sitting US president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge's trip to Havana in 1928. Obama announced the trip on Twitter Thursday, and ABC News reports that he'll be there March 21-22. The visit will mark a watershed moment for relations between the US and Cuba and will be part of a broader trip to Latin America, reports the AP. (President Harry Truman visited US-controlled Guantanamo Bay on the southeast end of the island in 1948, and former Jimmy Carter has paid multiple visits to the island since leaving office.) Word of Obama's travel plans drew immediate resistance from opponents of warmer ties with Cuba—including Republican presidential candidates. Ted Cruz, whose father fled to the US from Cuba in the 1950s, said Obama shouldn't visit while the Castro family remains in power. Marco Rubio, another child of Cuban immigrants, lambasted the president for visiting what he called an "anti-American communist dictatorship." "Today, a year and two months after the opening of Cuba, the Cuban government remains as oppressive as ever," Rubio said on CNN. Told of Obama's intention to visit, he added, "Probably not going to invite me." (An Alabama tractor-maker is the first US firm to set up shop in Cuba since the revolution.)