1959 was a momentous year in Cuban history. On the first day of the year, a force of communist guerillas, under the leadership of Fidel Castro stormed Havana and ousted the US-backed authoritarian government of President Fulgencio Batista. The 26th of July Movement, as it was so called, transformed Cuba into a communist state, thus stoking the already blazing fire of communist-phobia in the US.
The cold war induced paranoia meant that the US responded with a commercial, economic and financial embargo against Cuba. The blockade (better known as 'el bloqueo' in Cuba) also stemmed from the communist government's move of nationalising all US-owned Cuban oil refineries without any compensation whatsoever.
Since coming to power after a historic mandate in 2008, US President Barack Obama talked passionately about normalising ties with the island nation, barely 90 miles off the Florida coast. The next few years saw big leaps in the form of prisoner exchanges and re-establishment of diplomatic relations. The biggest shift happened not less than 24 hours ago when the president, accompanied by his entire family landed in Havana for a three-day state visit.
Mr Obama, who is the first sitting US president to visit Cuba in 88 years, told reporters: "It is wonderful to be here."
The visit, historic as it is, is not without its fair share of controversies. Just hours before President Obama landed in Havana, Cuban authorities arrested more than 50 dissidents who were marching to demand improved human rights. Members of the group, known as the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco, in Spanish) include wives and female relatives of jailed dissidents. The group has been holding rallies each Sunday since 2003. After Mass in Santa Rita Church they silently walk through the streets dressed in white to protest political imprisonments. Most members of the group face brief detentions after their weekly undertaking.
During this week's event, the crackdown by the government forces were reported to be brutal. Protestors were dragged away by female police officers, alongside a number of men who were also detained by the authorities. One of those detained was Ladies in White leader Berta Soler.
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