Obama Flying to Cuba Now

President Obama left Washington for Cuba Sunday, becoming the first sitting president to travel to the island nation in almost 90 years.

Follow the minute-by-minute special coverage of President Obama’s Cuba visit

During Obama’s three-day trip, he’s expected to meet with Cuban President Raúl Castro and representatives of the private sector before delivering a historic speech in Havana in an effort to continue the thaw in relations between the U.S. and the Communist country.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) joined the president aboard Air Force One along with first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha Obama, and Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson.

“I’ll travel to Cuba to advance our progress and efforts that can improve the lives of the Cuban people,” Obama wrote on his Twitter account last month. “We still have differences with the Cuban government that I will raise directly. America will always stand for human rights around the world.”

Obama has already taken steps to rebuild relations with Cuba, which has been isolated from the U.S. for five decades over Cold War-era divisions.

Last summer, the U.S. and Cuba reopened embassies, and earlier this year the Obama administration eased travel and trade restrictions between the two countries.

Cubans have been preparing for the Obama visit, with plainclothes officers reportedly blanketing the capital of Havana and public works crews laying down asphalt in pothole-laden streets.