Barack Obama and Raul Castro to meet face-to-face on historic Cuba trip

US President Barack Obama, during his historic visit to Cuba on Monday, will meet President Raul Castro and press for economic and democratic reforms while hearing complaints about continued US economic sanctions.

Obama and Castro's fourth meeting will take place at the Palace of the Revolution, where Castro and his predecessor, older brother Fidel Castro, have led Cuba's resistance to US pressure going back decades, Reuters reported.

First US President on visit after 88 years:

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A US presidential visit to the inner sanctum of Cuban power would have been unthinkable before Obama and Raul Castro's rapprochement 15 months ago when they agreed to end a Cold War-era dispute that lasted five decades and continued even after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The two leaders have deep differences to discuss as they attempt to rebuild the bilateral relationship.

Meanwhile, Obama is under pressure from critics at home to push Castro's Communist government to allow dissent from political opponents and further open its Soviet-style command economy.

His aides have said Obama will encourage more economic reforms and greater access to the internet for Cubans.

His administration hopes such changes might come at a Communist Party congress next month but doubts any political opening will be forthcoming.

Still, Obama has promised to talk about freedom of speech and assembly in Cuba.

"I will raise these issues directly with President Castro," he told the Cuban dissident group the Ladies in White in a 10 March letter.

Castro talks tough:

Castro has said Cuba will not waver from its 57-year-old revolution and government officials say the United States needs to end its economic embargo and return the Guantanamo Bay naval base to Cuba before the two nations can enjoy normal relations.

Cuban police backed by hundreds of shouting pro-government demonstrators broke up a Ladies in White march on Sunday, detaining dozens of people just hours before Obama landed.

Obama has urged Congress to rescind the 54-year-old embargo but has been rejected by the Republican leadership. He now has both Democratic and Republican elected officials with him on his Cuba trip and hopes Congress may act after the 8 November presidential election.

Obama and Castro met for half an hour during a regional summit in Panama last April and they also had brief encounters at Nelson Mandela's funeral in 2013 and at the UN General Assembly last September.

On Tuesday, Obama will deliver a speech on live Cuban television and attend an exhibition game between Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays and Cuba's national team.

With agency inputs