First US president in Cuba in 88 years, Obama says 'change going to happen'

Visiting U.S. President Barack Obama said he believes "change is going to happen" in Cuba, in comments broadcast shortly ahead of rare talks March 21 in Havana with counterpart Raul Castro, while on a historic three-day trip.

Obama, who arrived on the communist island March 20 with his family, is the first U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years and comes more than a year after he and Castro surprised the world in December 2014 by announcing that their countries would begin normalizing relations.

"Change is going to happen here and I think that Raul Castro understands that," he told ABC in the Cuban capital, acknowledging it was not going to occur "overnight," AFP reported.

"But what we have seen is the reopening of the embassy and although we still have significant differences around human rights and individual liberties inside of Cuba, we felt that coming now would maximize our ability to prompt more change." 

But Obama, who along with Castro was scheduled to deliver statements to the press after their midday talks March 21, admitted: "There's no doubt that the Cuban government is still a one-party state that's exerting control and that's stifling dissent." 

Obama also revealed he plans to announce while in Cuba that Google has struck a deal to upgrade the paltry Internet access on the island.

"One of the things that we'll be announcing here is that Google has a deal to start setting up more Wi-Fi and broadband access on the island," Obama told ABC News in an interview that aired on Monday.

Obama's historic visit to Cuba opened a new chapter in U.S. engagement with the island's Communist government after decades of hostility between the former Cold War foes.

"It's a historic opportunity to...