President Barack Obama will meet dissidents and President Raul Castro in Cuba next month, in a historic trip that will be another major step toward ending decades of animosity between former Cold War foes.
In the first visit by a US president to the Caribbean nation since 1928, Obama will also meet entrepreneurs and people from different walks of life on March 21 and 22.
But he is unlikely to see Fidel Castro, the former president and revolutionary leader, US officials say.
The White House hopes Obama's trip will help accelerate change on the Communist-run island and cement progress made under his watch, but Republicans at home complained that it would give legitimacy to Cuba's oppressive government.
After decades of hostility following Cuba's 1959 revolution, the two countries agreed in 2014 to move to reopen ties, but the US embargo on Cuba remains and Washington frequently criticises Havana's human rights record.
Josefina Vidal, the director of US affairs for the Cuban Foreign Ministry, said the Cuban government was willing to talk with the US about its concerns.
But the Cuban government wants Guantanamo Bay returned to Cuba and the embargo lifted before relations can be normalised.
Cuban dissidents gave a cautious welcome to the trip.
"He should take advantage of this opportunity to send a loud, clear message," prominent opposition blogger Yoani Sanchez wrote on her website. "The material and moral poverty that surrounds us is not the responsibility of the United States."
The US has upheld a strict economic embargo on Cuba for more than 50 years, providing the Cuban government with a strong propaganda tool against Washington.
Obama's visit is likely to spark debate in the campaign for the November 8 US presidential election, particularly in the swing voting state of Florida, where many anti-Castro Cuban-Americans live.
Two Republican candidates, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, are conservative sons of Cuban immigrants and foreign policy hawks.
Rubio urged Obama to reconsider his trip, citing political arrests in the past year. "You will send the message to the oppressed Cuban people that you stand with their oppressors," he said in a letter on Thursday.
