Shouts of “U.S.A.!” and “Obama!” echoed over the stone plazas as President Obama and his family made their way around rain-slicked courtyards in Old Havana on Sunday evening, savoring the adulation of Cubans welcoming him warmly despite a driving rain as he began a history-making visit.
“Welcome to Cuba! We like you!” a man shouted as Mr. Obama’s entourage passed. Above, a woman applauded and hooted from her wrought-iron balcony.
Later, a motorcade including the presidential limousine, adorned for the first time with Cuban and American flags, snaked through narrow streets where elated residents, their clothing soaked from waiting in the rain, hoisted cellphones and cheered the first sitting American leader to set foot on Cuban soil in 88 years.
Mr. Obama himself marveled aloud at the significance of his trip.
Mr. Obama thanked embassy personnel who had brought young children to the ceremony. “By the time they’re adults,” he said, “our hope is that they think it’s natural that a U.S. president should be visiting Cuba, and they think it’s natural that the two peoples are working together.”
The Obamas then set off for the cobblestone streets of Old Havana, strolling to a statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and then to the Museum of the City of Havana, set in a leafy courtyard that features a statue of Christopher Columbus.
nytimes.com
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