On his second day in Cuba, throngs of Cubans lined the rainy streets of Havana as President Obama’s motorcade traveled past, shouting his name, throwing kisses, cheering and chanting “USA! USA!” This the first time in 90 years that a sitting American president has visited the island country.

Obama met with Raul Castro on Monday to have discussions on normalizing relations between the two countries, how to improve the lives of the Cuban people, and to talk about areas of disagreement such as human rights. Obama also met with Fidel Castro at the Revolutionary Palace later Monday. 

Obama also plans on meeting with members of civil society and dissidents, he is currently participating in an event with young people and Cuban entrepreneurs, answering questions put forth by the audience.

Obama wrote on his Facebook page on Monday, saying that he made his trip to Cuba  to “extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people” and “bury the last vestige of the Cold War in the Americas.”

Republican candidates for president had less enthusistic views of Obama’s trip to Havana. Trump tweeted on Sunday, saying, “Wow, President Obama just landed in Cuba, a big deal, and Raul Castro wasn’t even there to greet him. He greeted Pope and others. No respect.”

Ted Cruz, the last Republican Cuban-American on the presidential ticket called Obama’s visit on a campaign stop in Arizona, “A sad day in American history.”[xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]

Marco Rubio, who recently dropped out of the presidential race, called Obama’s visit, “one of the most disgraceful trips ever taken by a U.S. president anywhere in the world.” Rubio feels that the only way to extract concessions from the island nation is to continue with the 55-year isolation of the country.

Not all Republicans agree with the candidates, at least 15 Republican members of the Senate believe in loosening restrictions for Cuba. Five Republican members of Congress are among the 39 Congressmen that made the trip to Cuba with Obama.

Arizona’s Senator Jeff Flake, said before leaving for Cuba, “It’s always bothered me that, as Republicans, we talk about engagement and travel and commerce as something that will nudge countries toward democracy; but, with Cuba, we tend to say, ‘No, no, it won’t work there,’ but, it will work. It is working.”

Both Democratic candidates for president, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are enthusiastic and supportive of Obama’s visit to Cuba. Of Obama’s trip, Sanders said, “I applaud President Obama for making history by traveling to Cuba and moving relations between our two countries into a new era. This is an approach that is long overdue. I continue to stand by his calls for Congress to fully lift the failed embargo. Fifty years of Cold War is enough. It is time for Cuba and the United States to turn the page and normalize relations.”

Castro is expected to call for a lifting of the embargo that has been in place for the past 55 years. But, with Republican control of Congress, the likelihood of that taking place  are slim.

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