MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Obama scheduled to address the Cuban people on national television and meet dissidents

Hand on his heart, Obama stood in Revolution Square as a band played the American national anthem, stunning sounds in a country as Cuba

President Barack Obama in Havana has a busy agenda scheduled for Tuesday which includes a major speech that Cuban officials said would be carried on TV. Before departing for Argentina, Obama has planned to meet with political dissidents and attend a game between Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays and Cuba's beloved national team.

 Obama opened his first full day in Cuba by adjusting a wreath at the memorial to Jose Marti, where a 59-foot statue pays tribute to the Cuban independence hero and writer. Hand on his heart, Obama stood in Revolution Square as a band played the American national anthem -- stunning sounds in a country where resistance to the U.S. has been part of the government's national mission for decades.

He then entered the Palace of the Revolution and shook hands with Raul Castro before the two inspected a military honor guard.

Since taking power in 2008, Castro has orchestrated economic and social reforms with lasting and broad-based impact, though to many Cubans and foreigners they appear slow to materialize. Not only are hundreds of thousands of Cubans now able to pursue free enterprise, but restrictions on cellphones and Internet have been eased and citizens feel more comfortable discussing Cuba's problems.

In that respect Obama announced that tech giant Google struck a deal to expand Wi-Fi and broadband Internet on the island 90 miles south of Florida.

Yet Castro has given little ground when it comes to changing Cuba's single-party system or easing strict limits on media, assembly and political dissent. His government has also repeatedly chided Obama for saying he wanted to empower Cubans.

None of that has dissuaded Obama, who insists that any intransigence by Cuba's government only proves why Cubans will be better off when they're intimately exposed to American values.

Though Cuba approved U.S. hotel chains Starwood and Marriott to operate and moved to lift fees on converting U.S. dollars, those steps pale in comparison to sweeping changes Obama has enacted to lift decades-old U.S. restrictions.

Back in the U.S., the president’s visit deeply divided lawmakers. While Obama has a huge congressional delegation with him, including Republicans, Cuban-American lawmakers in Washington slammed the visit. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who recently suspended his GOP presidential campaign, called it “one of the most disgraceful trips ever taken by a U.S. president anywhere in the world.”

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump also mocked Obama for not being greeted by the president of Cuba when he landed Sunday. Trump said Obama should have turned the plane around.

Obama was feted on Monday evening at a state dinner, an honor illustrating just how far the U.S. and Cuba have come despite their deep ideological differences.